The  Revival  of  the  Conventual  Life 

in  the  Church  of  England  in 

the  Nineteenth  Century 


By 
RALPH  W.    SOCKMAN,  M.A. 


SUBMITTED  IN  PARTIAL  FULFILMENT  OF  THE 
REQUIREMENTS  FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR 
OF  PHILOSOPHY,  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY. 


New  York  City. 
1917. 


PRINTED  BY 

W.  D.   Gray,  227  W.    17th  Street 

New  York  City 

1917 


'S^7.^^ 


o 


N'^j 


LIBRARY 


The  Revival  of  the  Conventual  Life 

in  the  Church  of  England  in 

the  Nineteenth  Century 


By 
RALPH  W.   SOCKMAN,  M.A. 


SUBMITTED  IN  PARTIAL  FULFILMENT  OF  THE 
REQUIREMENTS  FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR 
OF  PHILOSOPHY,  COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY. 


D. 

New  York  City. 
1917. 

w. 

PRINTED  BY 

Gray,  227  W.  17th 
New  York  City 

1917 

Street 

Copyright,  1917 

BY 

RALPH  W.  SOCKMAN 

ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


_-> 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface 5 

CHAPTER  I 

Seventeenth  Century  Antecedents  of  the  Monastic  Revival 

I.  The  Attitude  of  the  Antiquaries il 

II.  The  Clerical  Writers  and  the  Monastic  Interest 13 

III.  Attempts  to  Revive  the  Conventual  Life 18 

CHAPTER  II 
French  Pioneers  on  English  Soil 25 

CHAPTER  III 

The  Preparation  of  English  Society  for  Monastic  Institutions 

I 800- I 832 


I.  A  Period  of  Academic  Discussion.     1800-1815   . 
II.  Social  Conditions  Foster  Monastic  Ideas.     1816-1832  . 

III.  Church  Conditions  Turn  Attention  to  Monastic  Orders 

IV.  The  Influence  of  Continental  Travel  on  Monastic  Ideas 
V.  The  Romantic  Writers  and  Monastic  Ideas  .... 

VI.  Evidences  of  Interest  in  a  Monastic  Revival     . 


38 
43 
47 
50 
53 
55 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  Development  of  the  Distinctively  Monastic  Elements 

I.  The  Growth  of  Interest  in  Celibacy 60 

II.  The  Effect  of  the  Oxford  Movement  on  the  Monastic  Interest  T}, 

III.  The  Development  of  Monastic  Ideals  from  1839  to  1845  .      .  83 

IV.  The  General  Interest  in  the  Monastic  Revival 93 

V.  Definite  Plans   for  Revival 99 

3 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  V 
The  Beginning  of  Sisterhoods 

PAGE 

I.  The  First  Steps 104 

II.  The  Sisterhood  at  Park  Village 113 

III.  Society  of  the  Holy  Trinity  of  Devonport 121 

IV.  Society  of  St.  John  the  Baptist 133 

V.  St.  Margaret's  Sisterhood.     East  Grinstead 144 

VI.  A  View  of  the  General  Sisterhood  Movement 152 

CHAPTER  VI 

Communities  of  Men 

I.  Newman's  Retreat  at  Littlemore 157 

II.  The  Revived  Agitation  for  Brotherhoods 161 

III.  Father  Ignatius  and  the  Order  of  St.  Benedict 164 

IV.  The  Benedictines  of  Caldey  Island 172 

V.  Society  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist 182 

VI.  The  Community  of  the  Resurrection 188 

VII.  Society  of  the  Sacred  Mission 192 

VIII.  Society  of  the  Divine  Compassion 195 

Conclusion 198 

Bibliography 209 


PREFACE 

The  field  of  monastic  study  has  been  furrowed  so  often 
by  research  that  it  would  appear  to  have  lost  its  productiv- 
ity. While  this  may  be  true  within  the  confines  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  the  flood  of  religious  enthusiasm 
in  the  last  century  has  left  a  rich  deposit  of  conventual  life 
in  the  Church  of  England.  The  fertility  of  this  new  soil  is 
indicated  in  a  statement  of  which  the  present  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  is  one  of  the  authors :  "When  the  time  here- 
after comes  for  estimating  and  comparing  the  various  church 
movements  of  this  century  in  England,  it  is  probable  that 
the  first  place  as  regards  utility  and  strength  will  be  as- 
signed to  the  revival  of  Sisterhood  life  as  an  active  constit- 
uent in  the  church's  work."  ^  Since  that  estimate  was 
made,  several  monastic  communities  of  men  are  now  estab- 
lished. 

It  might  seem  that  the  story  of  this  revival  should  be 
written  by  an  Anglican,  perhaps  by  a  member  of  a  monastic 
community.  Although  the  need  of  such  a  history  has  often 
been  recognized  by  them,  yet  it  has  not  been  undertaken  in 
any  serious  or  comprehensive  way.  The  present  writer  has 
the  disadvantage,  but  also  the  advantage  of  distance.  While 
he  is  deprived  of  some  details  that  make  the  account  inti- 
mate and  interesting,  he  is  enabled  to  study  the  movement 
with  a  perspective  that  should  furnish  true  proportions. 
Nearly  all  the  source  material  to  which  any  reference  could 
be  found  has  been  available  in  the  various  libraries  of  New 
York.  Moreover,  the  main  part  of  this  story  is  devoted,  not 
to  the  immediate  communities  now  in  existence,  but  to  the 
preparation  of  England  for  their  rise,  a  subject  which  appar- 

1  Davidson    and    Benham,   Life    of    Archibald    Campbell    Tait,    2 
vols.  (London,  1891),  i,  449. 

5 


6  PREFACE 

ently  antedates  the  treatment  or  the  concern  of  the  present 
monastics. 

The  attempt  to  trace  this  growing  interest  begins  with 
the  suppression  of  the  monasteries  under  Henry  VIII ;  and 
if  it  seems  to  lead  too  far  afield  in  the  opening  chapters,  the 
arguments  and  citations  of  the  actual  promoters  of  the  con- 
ventual communities  in  the  nineteenth  century  will  show 
their  connection  with,  and  dependence  on,  the  movements  of 
the  earlier  periods. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  study,  the  author  has  been  par- 
ticularly indebted  to  Professor  William  Walker  Rockwell 
of  Union  Theological  Seminary  for  his  suggestion  of  the 
theme,  for  his  patient,  encouraging  counsel,  and  for  his  keen, 
kindly  criticism  throughout.  Words  are  but  weak  messen- 
gers to  express  the  writer's  gratitude  to  the  following,  also : 
To  Professor  James  T.  Shotwell  of  Columbia  University 
for  his  guidance  and  inspiration  during  the  years  of  histor- 
ical study  and  for  his  advice  in  this  specific  undertaking ;  to 
Professor  F.  J.  Foakes  Jackson  for  the  intimate  glimpses 
which  he  has  given  into  the  inner  circles  of  the  movements 
discussed  and  for  the  great  amount  of  time  he  has  so  gener- 
ously spent  in  reading  the  manuscript;  to  the  Order  of  the 
Holy  Cross,  West  Park,  New  York,  for  its  kindness  in  ad- 
mitting the  writer  to  its  institution  and  library;  to  the 
librarians  of  the  General  Theological  Seminary,  Columbia 
University,  Union  Theological  Seminary,  and  the  New  York 
Public  Library  for  their  courteous  consideration;  to  Miss 
Cornelia  T.  Hudson  and  Miss  Laura  S.  Turnbull  of  the 
Union  Theological  Seminary  staff  of  librarians  for  their 
voluntary  assistance,  far  exceeding  the  requirements  of 
official  courtesy;  and  finally  to  Mrs.  Ralph  W.  Sockman, 
whose  encouragement  in  the  preparation  of  this  work  and 
her  untiring  labor  in  reading  the  proof  have  made  the  task 
more  pleasant  and  the  story  more  readable. 


CHAPTER  I 

Seventeenth  Century  Antecedents  of  the 
Monastic  Revival 

Novelty  has  little  charm  for  a  Churchman.  He  de- 
mands that  projected  reforms  bear  the  stamp  of  authority 
imprinted  by  the  past.  Hence  the  nineteenth  century  ad- 
vocates of  monasticism  in  the  Church  of  England  knew 
that  they  must  invoke  the  sanction  of  that  authority.  The 
church  of  the  first  centuries  was  studied  to  prove  the  har- 
mony of  the  conventual  life  with  Catholic  Christianity; 
but  the  practical  Englishman  had  also  to  be  shown  that 
these  institutions  were  feasible  in  his  own  land,  even  since 
the  days  of  Henry  VHI.     Could  this  be  shown? 

The  very  Act  which  suppressed  the  lesser  monasteries 
paid  tribute  to  the  greater.  In  its  preamble  it  directed 
that  the  members  of  the  smaller  institutions  be  distributed 
among  the  "great  and  honorable  monasteries  of  the  realm, 
where,  thanks  be  to  God,  religion  is  right  well  kept  and 
preserved."  ^  These  words  must  not  be  taken  too  seri- 
ously, but  they  do  have  a  significance.  Granted  that  they 
were  intended  to  cajole  Henry's  future  victims,  they  in- 
dicate also  a  popular  sentiment  in  many  quarters  against 
the  total  abolition  of  the  monasteries.  Even  Latimer  de- 
sired to  retain  some  of  their  practical  features.  "He  en- 
treated that  two  or  three  in  every  shire  should  be  con- 
tinued, not  in  monkery,  but  as  establishments  for  learned 

1 2^  Henry  VIII,  c.  28,  Statutes  of  the  Realm,  iii,  575. 

7 


8  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

men  and  such  as  would  go  about  preaching  and  giving 
reHgious  instruction  to  the  people,  and  for  the  sake  of 
hospitality."  ^  In  the  cases  of  some  of  the  greater  mon- 
asteries, the  neighborhoods  petitioned  that  they  might  be 
spared,  and  the  Visitors  themselves  represented  them  as 
beneficial.^  The  Pilgrimage  of  Grace  incorporated  among 
other  grievances  a  plea  for  a  restoration  of  the  monas- 
teries.^ 

How  effective  the  partition  of  the  property  of  the  abbeys 
proved  in  silencing  the  demand  for  the  restoration  of  the 
religious  houses  is  shown  in  the  reaction  under  Mary. 
When  this  queen  desired  to  restore  the  papal  supremacy, 
Parliament  made  the  confirmation  of  the  titles  of  the  oc- 
cupants of  monastic  estates  part  of  the  Act.*  Mary,  how- 
ever, succeeded  in  restoring  a  number  of  convents  and 
monastic  orders.^ 

At  first  Elizabeth  did  not  molest  these  monastic  estab- 
lishments, even  summoning  Prior  Tresham  and  Abbot 
Feckenham  to  take  their  seats  in  her  first  parliament.  "But 
they  had  hardly  sat  down  on  their  seats  before  they  were 
raised  up  and  dissolved,  with  all  the  rest  of  the  late-restored 
Orders."  ^     The  thoroughness  with  which  Elizabeth  sup- 

1  Southey,  Book  of  the  Church,  2nd  ed.  (London,  1825),  ii,  68.  Cf. 
Twysden,  Monastic  Life  (1645),  P-  3i.  quoted  in  British  Critic,  Oct., 
1842,  p.  364- 

-Ibid.,  p.  68;  cf.  a  letter  of  George  Gifford,  an  investigator,  quoted 
in  Gentleman's  Magazine,  Ixv,  770. 

3  Patterson,  A  History  of  the  Church  of  England  (London,  1909), 
p.  232. 

'^  Ibid.,  p.  270;  cf.  Fuller,  The  Church  History  of  Britain  from  the 
Birth  of  Christ  until  the  Year  1648  (1837  ed.),  ii,  279.  For  Act  I  and 
2,  Phil,  and  Mary,  c.  8,  vide  appendix  i. 

5  For  locations  vide  Fuller,  op.  cit.,  pp.  278-9. 

6  Ibid.,  p.  281 ;  cf.  Fosbrooke,  British  Monachism,  or  Manners  and 
Customs  of  the  Monks  and  Nuns  of  England  (London,  1802),  2nd  ed. 
(1817),  p.  398. 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  ANTECEDENTS  g 

pressed  monasticism  is  shown  by  the  condition  of  the  Eng- 
lish Benedictines.  After  Feckenham's  death  only  one  monk 
of  this  Order  was  left  in  England/ 

Little  noticeable  defence  of  the  conventual  institutions 
was  made  during  Elizabeth's  reign.  No  doubt  the  reve- 
nues they  received  from  the  monastic  lands  continued  to 
silence  a  great  number  of  the  landed  classes.  But  a  late 
friend  of  monasteries  explains  the  silence  of  the  sixteenth 
century  as  due  to  a  most  naturally  one-sided  reaction  from 
the  practical  corruptions  of  the  Roman  Church."  The 
hostility  was  due  to  political  and  practical  conditions  and 
not  to  any  fundamental  disagreement  with  the  principles 
of  the  institutions^  The  silence  of  English  divines  dur- 
ing Elizabeth's  reign  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  there 
was  no  sentiment  favorable  to  monasteries.  Usually  it  is 
tITe  higher  clergy  that  have  their  opinions  printed ;  and  they 
are  often  among  the  last  to  speak,  especially  when  moneyed 
interests  are  threatened.  Historians,  however,  usually 
speak  with  greater  freedom.  The  words  of  one  throw  a 
little  light  on  a  cross-section  of  English  monastic  opinion. 
William  Camden,  in  the  preface  to  his  Britannia,  says : 
"There  are  some,  I  hear,  who  take  it  ill  that  I  have  men- 
tioned monasteries  and  their  founders.  .  .  .  Perhaps  they 
would  have  it  forgotten  that  our  ancestors  were,  and  we 
are,  Christians,  since  there  were  never  more  certain  in- 
dications and  glorious  monuments  of  Christian  piety  and 
devotion  to  God  than  these."  *  A  similar  attitude  was 
taken  by  William   Lambarde,   another  antiquary,   writing 

1  Reynerius,  Apostolatus  Benedictinorutn  in  Anglia  (Duaci,  1626), 
p.  242. 

^British  Critic,  Oct.,  1842,  pp.  310-21 1. 

^Ibid.,  p.  312. 

*  Camden,  Britannia  (1856).  Quoted  in  Anglo-Catholicus,  The  Mo- 
nastic and  Manufacturing  Systems  (London,  1843),  p.  15. 


lO  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

in  1576,^  and  by  Sampson  Erdeswicke  in  1593.^  Other 
writers  might  probably  be  cited,  but  they  would  prove  lit- 
tle. There  was  no  propaganda  to  restore  monastic  insti- 
tutions in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  Antiquaries  might  praise 
them  in  safety  of  the  past,  but  it  was  left  to  the  seventeenth 
century  to  attempt  their  revival  in  the  Anglican  Church. 

The  court  atmosphere  in  the  early  part  of  the  century 
was  not  hostile  to  institutions  because  they  bore  the  marks 
of  Roman  Catholicism.  In  fact  just  the  opposite  was 
true.  James  I  was  suspected  of  Romanist  tendencies.  It 
was  known  that  his  wife  was  secretly  a  Roman  Catholic.^ 
Charles  I,  also,  with  his  High  Church  Archbishop  Laud 
and  his  Roman  Catholic  queen,  was  friendly  to  the  mo- 
nastic idea.  Fosbrooke  says  that  a  convent  of  Capuchins 
was  set  up  at  Somerset  House  according  to  the  marriage 
articles  of  Queen  Henrietta  Maria  in  1625.*  In  such  an 
environment  the  idea  of  monastic  institutions  in  the  An- 
glican Church  could  easily  grow.  Its  advocates  in  the  nine- 
teenth century  very  appropriately,  therefore,  bestow  their 
praise  upon  these  two  monarchs. 

Throughout  the  seventeenth  century  this  sentiment  in 
favor  of  monasticism  found  expression  in  the  writings  of 
antiquaries  and  church  leaders.  Moreover,  actual  attempts 
to  revive  the  conventual  life  were  made.  To  dissect  all 
the  causes  of  this  interest  is  impossible  in  a  brief  intro- 
ductory chapter,  and,  furthermore,  the  important  considera- 
tion in  this  thesis  is  not  the  cause,  but  the  existence,  of 

1  Lambarde  (1536-1601).  Perambulation  of  Kent;  containing  the 
Description,  Hystorie  and  Customs  of  that  Shire  (London,  1576),  cited 
in  Spelman,  History  and  Fate  of  Sacrilege,  4th  ed.  (1895),  Introd.,  p. 
xii. 

2  Erdeswicke  (d.  1603),  Survey  of  Staffordshire  (1593-1603),  ed. 
Hardwood  (1844),  cited  in  Spelman,  op.  cit. 

3  Patterson,  op.  cit.,  p.  316. 

*  Fosbrooke,  op.  cit.,  p.  398. 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  ANTECEDENTS  1 1 

such  a  sentiment.  To  record  a  few  instances,  therefore,  is 
sufficient. 

I.    THE   ATTITUDE   OF   THE   ANTIQUARIES 

Chronologically  the  antiquaries  must  be  mentioned  first. 
In  1 613  Sir  Henry  Spelman  wrote  his  book,  De  non 
temerandis  Ecclesiis,  in  which  he  denounced  the  spoliation 
of  the  monasteries.  Spelman  was  himself  an  owner  of 
abbey  lands.  The  purchase  of  these  lands  occasioned  a 
long  court  action  in  which  he  was  a  loser.^  Perhaps  this 
may  have  colored  his  view.  At  any  rate  his  interest  is 
practical  and  social.  He  praises  the  hospitality,  charity 
and  learning  of  the  monks,  and  places  in  dark  contrast 
the  conditions  under  the  new  Poor  Law.  The  popularity 
of  this  book  is  shown  by  its  having  reached  its  sixth  edi- 
tion in  1704.^ 

Sir  Roger  Twysden,  antiquary  and  historian,  was  a 
Cavalier,  standing  close  to  the  King.  His  opinion,  there- 
fore, has  an  added  significance. 

Some  there  are  either  so  averse  from  the  calling  or  so  in  love 
with  the  possessions  religious  people  were  endowed  with,  as 
they  held  an  opinion  that  there  should  have  been  no  reforma- 
tion, but  an  absolute  extirpation  of  them.  In  which  yet  Lat- 
imer, a  glorious  martyr,  did  not  concur,  who  would  have  had 
two  or  three  saved  in  every  shire.  .  .  .  To  speak  seriously  and 
without  passion,  what  can  the  ill  be  [without  other  conse- 
quences] to  have  places  set  apart,  whither  men,  either  by  na- 
ture, time  or  otherwise  unfit  for  the  world,  may  retire  them- 
selves in  religious  company,  may  think  on  heaven  and  good 
learning?"  ^ 

^Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 

2  Similar  view  was  expressed  by  him  in  The  History  and  Fate  of 
Sacrilege,  written  I632  (London,  Holborn,  1698),  4th  ed.,  1895.  Its 
popularity  is  well  known. 

3  Twysden,  Monastic  Life  (c.  1645),  quoted  in  British  Critic,  Oct., 
1842,  p.  364. 


12  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

Thus  the  historical  tone  of  Twysden  the  antiquary  is 
tinged  with  the  hortatory  zeal  of  Twysden  the  man  of 
affairs.  Moreover,  the  religious  interest  plainly  joins  it- 
self to  the  social  in  his  expression. 

Similar  in  social  position  and  in  monastic  ideas  was  Sir 
William  Dugdale,  a  follower  of  Charles  I  in  the  Civil 
War.  He  was  the  chief  author  of  that  monumental  work 
Monasticon  Anglicanum}  The  list  of  other  seventeenth 
century  historians  and  antiquaries  who  voiced  opin- 
ions favorable  to  monasticism  is  a  long  one,  and  in- 
cludes : 

(i)  William  Somner  (1598- 1609),  a  friend  of  Charles 
I,  Laud,  Dugdale,  Fuller,  et.  al.  He  contributed  to  Dug- 
dale and  Dodsworth's  Monasticon  Anglicanum  materials  in 
regard  to  Canterbury  and  the  religious  houses  of  Kent. 
He  also  wrote  The  Antiquaries  of  Canterbury  (1640). 

(2)  Robert  Plot  (1640- 1696),  author  of  A  Natural 
History  of  Oxfordshire  (1677),  and  A  Natural  History  of 
Staffordshire  (1688).     Plot  was  a  Royalist, 

(3)  John  Prince  (1643- 1723),  author  of  Worthies  of 
Devon  (1701). 

(4)  Sir  Robert  Atkyns  ( 1 647-1 71 1 ) ,  Ancient  and  Pres- 
ent State  of  Gloucestershire  (1712). 

(5)  Sir  Simon  Degge  (161 2- 1704),  Observations  upon 
the  Possessors  of  Monastery  Lands  in  Staffordshire;  pub- 
lished with  Erdeswicke,  Survey  of  Staffordshire  (1717  ed.). 

(6)  Browne  Willis  (1682-1760),  History  of  the  Mitred 
Parliamentary  Abbeys  and  Conventual  Cathedral  Churches, 
2  vols.  (1718-1719). 

(7)  John  Stevens  (d.  1726),  who  published  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  Monasticon  Anglicanum  in  2  vols,  entitled 

^  Dugdale,  Monasticon  Anglicanum  (1655)  ;  new  ed.,  6  vols.  (London, 
1817-1830). 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  ANTECEDENTS  13 

The  History  of  Ancient  Abbeys,  Monasteries,  Hospitals, 
Cathedrals,  etc.  (1722)/ 

The  significance  of  these  historical  writings  must  not  be 
overestimated.  They  are  entered  here  merely  to  show  that 
many  men  of  letters  recognized  the  value  of  institutions 
now  ruined.  How  widespread  this  feeling  was  cannot  be 
definitely  stated.  The  very  focussing  of  the  attention  on 
this  subject  and  the  popularity  of  some  of  these  books  are 
an  indication  of  the  general  interest.  There  are,  too,  some 
reflections  of  the  social  interests  of  their  own  times,  as  in 
Spelman.  Furthermore  the  nineteenth  century  advocates 
of  monasteries  regarded  these  writers  as  factors  in  the 
three  hundred  year  revival,  as  is  evident  from  their  fre- 
quent citation.^  The  writings  of  a  few  historians,  how- 
ever, do  not  in  themselves  prove  the  seventeenth  century 
ready  to  revive  monastic  institutions,  for  the  pride  of  the 
historian  is  that  he  stands  aloof  from  the  popular  opin- 
ions of  his  own  time. 

II.    THE    CLERICAL    WRITERS   AND   THE    MONASTIC    INTEREST 

The  clergy,  however,  are  less  independent  of  their  en- 
vironment than  are  the  historians.  When  the  clergy  at- 
tempted to  write  of  the  convents  they  may  not  have  given 
so  exact  an  account  of  the  sixteenth  century  conditions 
as  did  the  antiquaries,  but  they  do  give  a  better  glimpse 
of  the  popular  opinion  of  their  own  times.  In  an  account 
of  the  monastic  revival  the  clerical  writers  are,  therefore, 
more  interesting  and  more  important. 

John  Bramhall,  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  essayed  to  give 

1  For  antiquaries  of  17th  century,  cf.  The  Cambridge  History  of  Eng- 
lish Literature,  ix,  ch.  xiii. 

2  History  and  Fate  of  Sacrilege,  1846  ed.,  reproduced  in  4th  ed.  1895 ; 
cf.  Anglo-Catholicus,  Monastic  and  Manufacturing  Systems  (London, 
1843),  passim. 


14 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


what  he  "conceived  to  be  the  judgment  of  moderate  Eng- 
lish Protestants  concerning  the  suppression  of  monas- 
teries." ^  It  was,  first,  that  "covetousness  had  a  great  oar 
in  the  boat" ;  second,  that  "foundations,  which  were  good 
in  their  original  institutions,  ought  not  to  be  destroyed  for 
accessory  abuses" ;  third,  that  it  is  lawful  to  restrain  and 
to  prune,  but  "to  pluck  up  good  institutions  root  and 
branch,  is  not  reformation  which  we  profess,  but  destruc- 
tion." ^  Being  an  active  ecclesiastical  statesman,  he  goes 
on  to  give  his  opinion  in  regard  to  their  revival.  If  mon- 
asteries were  moderated  in  their  number  and  revenues, 
if  they  were  made  more  practical  and  less  contemplative, 
if  the  vow  of  perpetual  celibacy  were  reduced  to  the  tem- 
porary form  of  the  English  universities  or  the  Beguines 
across  the  sea,  if  the  blind  obedience  demanded  of  monks 
were  somewhat  enlightened,  if  their  "mock  poverty"  were 
changed  to  a  competent  maintenance,  he  did  "not  see  why 
monasteries  might  not  agree  well  enough  with  reformed 
devotion."  ^ 

Herbert  Thorndike,  sometime  Prebendary  of  the  Col- 
legiate Church  of  St.  Peter,  Westminster,  w^as  a  theologian 
frequently  quoted  by  later  High  Churchmen.  He  declared 
very  distinctly  that  monasticism,  while  not  "essential  to 
the  constitution  of  the  Church  of  England,"  was  never- 
theless "advantageous  for  the  maintenance  of  that  retire- 
ment from  the  world  in  the  reasons  of  our  actions,  wherein 
our  common  Christianity  consisteth."  *  No  member  of  the 
Church  of  England  "need  disown  the  whole  Church  in 
maintaining  monastical  life  as  agreeable  with  Christianity 

1  Bramhall,  A  Just  Vindication  of  the  Church  of  England  (c.  1653)  in 
Works  of  Archbishop  Bramhall  (1674),  i.  pt-  i,  P-  118  (Oxford,  1842). 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  1 18- 1 19. 

3  Ibid.,  pp.  119-120. 

*  Thorndike,  Theological  Works  (London,  1659),  iv,  pt.  ii,  bk.  iii,  p. 
815,  in  Anglo-Catholic  Library  of  Theology  (Oxford,  1853). 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  ANTECEDENTS  15 

and  expedient  to  the  intent  of  it."  ^  While  Thorndike  rec- 
ognized the  practical  corruptions  of  the  monks,  he  felt 
that  the  monastic  orders  gave  opportunity  for  a  higher 
life  than  the  secular  state. ^ 

About  this  time  Thomas  Fuller  in  his  Church  History 
discourses  on  the  practical  value  of  the  monasteries.  Their 
instruction  and  their  charity  especially  catch  his  eye.  He 
pays  a  tribute  to  nunneries  and  believes  their  return  would 
be  welcomed ;  ^  but  Fuller  seems  to  think  that  by  the  mid- 
dle of  the  seventeenth  century  the  popular  interest  in  mon- 
asteries was  waning.  In  the  light  of  his  own  views  the 
touch  of  sarcasm  about  the  greed  of  the  land-holders  is 
apparent.* 

The  pro-monastic  sentiment  was  revived  after  the  Res- 
toration. Peter  Heylin,  the  disciple  of  Laud,  paid  a  trib- 
ute to  the  charity  of  the  monks.^  Archbishop  Leighton 
of  Glasgow  thought  it  was  the  great  and   fatal  error  of 

^Ibid.,  p.  815. 
^Ibid.,  p.  818. 

3  "Nunneries  also  were  good  she  schools,  wherein  the  girls  and  maids 
of  the  neighborhood  were  taught  to  read  and  work ;  and  sometimes  a 
little  Latin  was  taught  them  therein.  Yea,  give  me  leave  to  say,  if 
such  genuine  foundations  had  still  continued,  provided  no  vows  were 
obtruded  upon  them  (virginity  is  least  kept  where  it  is  most  restrained), 
haply  the  weaker  sex  (beside  the  avoiding  modern  inconvenience) 
might  be  heightened  to  a  higher  perfection  than  hitherto  hath  been 
attained.  I  say,  if  such  feminine  foundations  were  extant  now  of 
days,  haply  some  virgins  of  highest  birth  would  be  glad  of  such 
places,  and,  I  am  sure,  their  fathers  and  elder  brothers  would  not  be 
sorry  for  the  same."     (Fuller,  The  Church  History  of  Britain,  ii,  190.) 

4  "It  is  high  time  for  me  to  put  a  period  to  this  subject;  .  .  .  the 
rather  because  this  old  and  trite  subject  is  now  grown  out  of  fashion, 
men  in  our  own  age  having  got  a  new  object  to  fix  their  eyes  thereon — 
taking  notice  how  such  church  lands  do  thrive,  which  since  hath  been 
derived  into  the  hands  of  new  possessors."  Ibid.,  bk.  vi,  p.  297  (1837 
ed.). 

5  B — ,  S.  H.,  The  Monastic  Houses  of  England;  their  accusers  and 
defenders  (London,  1869),  p.  3. 


1 6  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

the  Reformation  that  the  reHgious  houses  had  not  been 
reformed  rather  than  destroyed.  They  were  needed  as 
places  of  retreat,  education  and  mortification/ 

Thomas  Tanner,  later  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  wrote  his 
Notitia  Monastica  in  order  "to  preserve  some  remem- 
brance of  these  structures,  once  the  glory  of  our  English 
nation."  ^  He  admits  that  the  popular  feeling  is  hostile 
to  the  monasteries.  *T  am  not  ignorant  that  the  generality 
of  people,  ever  since  the  dissolution,  have,  through  a  mis- 
taken zeal  and  false  prejudice,  thought  that  the  very  mem- 
ory of  those  great  men,  who  erected  these  places,  ought 
to  be  buried  in  the  rubbish  of  those  structures  that  they 
designed."  ^  Evidence  of  some  desire  for  nunneries  is 
found  also  in  a  sermon  of  Bishop  Rainbow  of  Carlisle  in 
1676,  who  himself  was  opposed  to  the  idea.  'T  have  in- 
deed found  some  men  and  women  eminent  in  zeal,  wholly 
devoted  to  the  Church  of  England,  who  thought  it  would 
be  of  great  advantage,  religious  and  politic,  if  some 
kind  of  protestant  nunneries  were  allowed  and  instituted 
among  us;  for  which  some  have  projected  models  and 
rules  very  considerable,  and  some  have  well  considered 
them."  ' 

What  conclusions  can  be  drawn  from  the  above  citations  ? 
To  some  they  may  seem  to  admit  of  no  generalisation. 
However,  if  to  these  were  added  the  favorable  opinions 
of  Laud,  Montague,  Jeremy  Taylor,  Andrewes,  and  others 

1  Burnet  (1643-1715),  History  of  His  Own  Time  (6  vols.),  (Oxford, 
1833),  i.  39,  quoted  in  Anglo-Catholicus,  Monastic  and  Manufacturing 
Systems,  p.  18. 

2  Tanner,  Notitia  Monastica;  or  A  Short  History  of  the  Religious 
Houses  in  England  and  Wales  (1695)  ;  preface  quoted  in  Anglo-Cathol- 
icus, op.  cit.,  p.  15 ;  cf.  B— ,  S.  H.,  op.  cit.,  p.  3. 

^Ibid.,  Preface. 

4  A  sermon  preached  at  Appleby,  Apr.  14,  1676,  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Edw. 
Rainbow,  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  quoted  in  the  Church  of  England  Maga- 
zine, XV,  334  (1843). 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  ANTECEDENTS 


17 


on  celibacy,  and  of  Montague  on  monastic  poverty,^  it 
would  seem  safe  to  say  that  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy 
of  the  seventeenth  century  was  permeated  with  monastic 
ideas. 

But  what  connection  have  the  opinions  of  a  few  seven- 
teenth century  divines  with  a  nineteenth  century  move- 
ment? The  answer  is  found  in  the  various  pro-monastic 
pamphlets  and  articles  of  the  1830's  and  40's.  Again  and 
again  these  churchmen  are  cited  along  with  the  antiquaries 
mentioned  above.  In  the  eyes  of  the  Tractarians,  these 
were  the  standard  theologians  of  the  Anglican  Church.^ 
In  seeking  to  revive  the  monastic  institutions  of  the  early 
church,  the  Tractarians  were  wise  in  citing  the  seventeenth 
century  writers.  The  average  Englishman  might  not  be 
much  attracted  by  the  ideas  of  the  celibates  and  monks  who 
lived  before  the  days  of  the  Roman  hierarchy,  but  he  could 
both  understand  and  admire  the  things  which  were  felt 
to  be  possible  in  his  own  England  after  she  had  thrown 
off  the  Roman  yoke.  If  the  nineteenth  century  was  the  age 
of  actual  monastic  revival,  the  seventeenth  was  the  time  of 
theoretical  preparation.^ 

1  Cf.  British  Critic,  Oct.,  1842. 

-  The  British  Critic,  the  recognized  organ  of  the  Tractarians,  Oct., 
1842,  p.  301,  says  that  the  doctrines  of  the  Oxford  divines  have  been 
met  with,  "Why  sound  a  retreat  from  the  nineteenth  to  the  seventeenth 
century?"  But  that  charge  is  no  longer  formidable  smce  "the  first  and 
most  influential  periodical  of  the  day"  has  pronounced  that  the  theol- 
ogy of  the  seventeenth  century  divines  "  'is  the  standard  theology  of  the 
English  Church.'.  .  .  Few  will  be  found,  we  imagine,  so  hardy  as  to 
dispute  the  fact." 

3  Note  the  new  editions  of  the  above  works  in  the  early  nineteenth 
century : 

Camden,  Brittania,  1806; 

Lombarde,  Perambulation  of  Kent,  1826  (reprint  of  2d  ed.)  ; 

Fosbrooke,  British  Monachism,  1817  and  1843; 

Spelman,  De  nan  temerandis,  1841 ; 

Prince,  Worthies  of  Devon,  1810; 


1 8  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

III.    ATTEMPTS    TO    REVIVE    THE    CONVENTUAL    LIFE 

More  interesting  than  theories  were  the  actual  attempts 
to  revive  conventual  establishments.  Space  and  available 
information  permit  only  a  brief  sketch. 

The  first  and  most  important  attempt  was  that  of  Nicho- 
las Ferrar  at  Little  Gidding,  near  Huntingdon.  Ferrar 
had  been  a  prominent  man  of  business  and  had  become  a 
member  of  Parliament  in  1624.  But  a  year  later  he,  with 
his  mother,  her  children  and  grandchildren,  retired  to  their 
country  estate  at  Little  Gidding  and  set  up  an  establish- 
ment which  had  many  conventual  elements.^ 

Their  daily  routine  of  hours,  services,  and  work  was 
similar  to  that  of  a  monastic  house.  They  observed  all  the 
fasts  and  festivals  of  the  Church  of  England.  The  re- 
quired black  habit  of  the  women  was  another  mark  of 
the   conventual   life."     The   question   of   celibate   vows   in 

Bramhall,  Works,  1842; 

Thorndike,  Works,  1852; 

Heylin,  History  of  the  Reformation,  1849; 

Leighton,  Rules  and  Instructions  for  a  Holy  Life,  1825-31. 

^  Macdonough,  Brief  Memoirs  of  Nicholas  Ferrar,  M.A.,  Founder  of 
a  Protestant  Religious  Establishment ;  chiefly  collected  from  a  narrative 
by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Turner,  formerly  Lord  Bishop  of  Ely  (London, 
1829),  2d  ed.  1837,  reviewed  in  British  Critic,  Oct.,  1839,  p.  440,  et  seq. 
Other  lives  of  Ferrar  consulted  were :  Peckard,  Life  of  Ferrar; 
abridged  from  the  Memoirs   (1790)    (London,  1852)  ; 

Ferrar,  John,  Nicholas  Ferrar;  Two  Lives,  by  his  Brother  John, 
and  by  Dr.  J  ebb.  .  .  .  Now  first  edited  by  J.  E.  B.  Mayor  (Cambridge, 

1855) ; 

Carter,  T.  T.  (ed.)  ;  Nicholas  Ferrar:  His  Household  and  His 
Friends  (London,  1892)  ; 

(Ferrar,  Nicholas),  The  Story  Books  of  Little  Gidding;  being  the 
religious  dialogues  recited  in  the  Great  Room,  1631-2;  from  the  orig- 
inal mss.   (New  York,  1899)  ; 

Skipton,  H.  P.  K.,  Life  and  Times  of  Nicholas  Ferrar  (London, 
1907).  The  dates  and  authors  show  Ferrar's  connection  with  the  nine- 
teenth century  revival. 

^British  Critic,  xxvi,  449  (1839). 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  ANTECEDENTS  19 

Ferrar's  community  has  often  been  discussed  and  is  im- 
portant in  determining  the  status  of  the  estabHshment. 
Ferrar  himself  had  refused  the  hand  of  an  heiress  and  had 
"declared  that  he  was  resolved  not  to  marry  at  all,  if  God 
gave  him  the  grace  to  continue  as  he  was."  ^  At  the  age 
of  thirty-four,  when  he  was  ordained  deacon,  Ferrar  de- 
clared that  he  was  "resolved  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his 
life  in  mortifications,  in  devotion  and  charity."  ^  As  to 
the  other  members  of  the  institution,  Carter  thus  quotes 
from  Edward  Lenton's  Letters :  ^ 

That  Mary  and  Anna  Collett  considered  themselves  absolutely 
pledged  to  a  single  life  there  can  be  no  doubt.  One  of  their 
sisters  speaks  of  the  "virgin  estate,  whereof  our  chief  hath 
made  profession,"  and  Nicholas  Ferrar  in  1634  in  answer  to  an 
enquiry  about  the  "nuns"  of  Gidding,  replied  that  "two  of  his 
nieces  had  lived,  one  thirty  and  the  other  thirty-two  years, 
virgins ;  and  so  resolved  to  continue  as  he  hoped  they  would, 
the  better  to  give  themselves  to  fasting  and  prayer,  but  had 
made  no  vows."  * 

The  author  of  Carter's  work  thinks  their  resolutions 
were  in  actuality  tantamount  to  vows. 

At  any  rate,  the  establishment  had  sufficient  monastic 
flavor  to  be  the  object  of  a  tract,  called  The  Arminian  Nun- 
nery, or  a  Brief  Description  and  Relation  of  the  late  erected 
Monastic  all  Place  called  the  Arminian  Nunnery  at  Little 
Gidding  in  Huntingdonshire ,  humbly  recommended  to  the 
wise  consideration  of  this  present  Parliament.  The  Foun- 
dation is  by  a  Co.  of  Ferrars  at  Gidding.  (Printed  for 
Thos.  Underbill,  London,  1641).^ 

1  Mayor,  op.  cit.,  p.  1 10. 

2  Peckard,  op.  cit.,  p.  105;  cf.  Anon.,  Life  of  Ferrar  (Phila.,  1833), 

P-  55- 

3  Lenton  was  a  visitor  at  Ferrar's  community. 

*  Life  of  N.  Ferrar,  ed.  by  T.  T.  Carter,  pp.  143-4. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  291. 


20  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

The  place  was  attacked  and  destroyed  by  the  anti- 
Royalist  soldiers  in  1646;  but  while  it  existed  many  church 
leaders  were  loud  in  its  praise.  Among  Ferrar's  friends 
and  admirers  were  Charles  I,  Archbishop  Laud,  Dr.  Lind- 
sell,  later  Bishop  of  Peterborough,  Bishop  Williams  of 
Lincoln,  and  Cosin,  later  Bishop  of  Durham;  while  Bishop 
Turner  of  Ely  was  his  Boswellian  biographer.^  From  a 
life  of  such  character  and  popularity  it  is  not  strange  that 
the  Tractarian  lovers  of  monasteries  exultingly  concluded : 
"Thus  we  have  Ferrar's  own  view  pretty  clearly  marked 
as  to  the  celibate,  and  the  accordance  of  societies  of  a  mo- 
nastic character  with  the  genius  of  our  Church."  " 

After  the  Restoration  several  proposals  were  made  for 
female  establishments.  In  1671  a  scheme  for  a  protestant 
woman's  college  under  the  instruction  of  a  "lady  governess 
and  grave  society  of  widows  and  virgins,  who  have  re- 
solved to  lead  the  rest  of  their  lives  in  a  single,  retired, 
religious  way  according  to  the  pattern  of  some  protestant 
colleges  in  Germany."  ^  That  there  were  similar  schemes 
discussed  about  this  time  seems  apparent  from  Bishop  Rain- 
bow's sermon.*  However,  there  seems  to  be  no  record  of 
actual  beginnings. 

The  two  chief  needs  to  be  met  by  these  schemes  were 
the  education  of  young  ladies  and  the  retirement  of  older 
ones.  In  1694  Mary  Astell  wrote  A  Serious  Proposal  to 
Ladies,  for  the  advancement  of  their  true  and  greatest  In- 
terest, by  a  lover  of  her  sex.  She  proposed  a  sort  of 
"Protestant  Nunnery,"  or  "lest  the  word  nunnery  should 
frighten  people,  a  Christian  Retirement  should  be  formed 

'^British  Critic,  xxvi,  452  (Oct.,  1839). 

^  Ibid.,  p.  451. 

^  Qiiarterly  Reinew,  xxii,  94-95  (1819).  Programme  was  printed 
anonymously  in  a  quarto  pamphlet  of  ten  pages  by  Thomas  Newcomb 
in  the  Savoy,  1671. 

*  Cf.  supra,  p.  16. 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  ANTECEDENTS  2 1 

to  which  ladies  who  nauseated  the  world  might  retire"  to 
improve  their  minds  and  cultivate  their  spiritual  life.^ 
This  proposal  was  almost  as  popular  at  first  as  if  it  had 
been  made  to  these  same  ladies  by  a  man.  A  prominent 
lady,  supposed  by  some  to  be  the  Princess  of  Denmark, 
afterwards  Queen  Anne,  and  by  others  to  be  Lady  E. 
Hastings,  promised  to  give  £10,000.  But  "because  the  plan 
assimilated  conventual  institutions,  Bishop  Burnet  and 
Swift  succeeded  in  robbing  posterity  of  much  probable 
benefit/'  - 

About  this  same  time  one  Susanna  Hopton  ^  lost  her 
husband.  She  had  been  converted  to  Roman  Catholicism 
but  had  returned  to  the  Church  of  England  through  a  read- 
ing of  Laud,  Morton,  and  Chillingworth  especially.  After 
her  husband's  death  in  1696  she  lived  a  sort  of  Religious 
Life  at  Kington.*  Her  example  seems  to  have  aroused 
little  interest. 

Lady  Masham,  daughter  of  the  famous  Puritan  Ralph 
Cudworth,  meditated  a  plan  similar  to  Mary  Astell's,  with 
more  emphasis  on  the  purely  educational  values.^  In  1705 
she  published  Occasional  Thoughts  in  Reference  to  a  Vir- 
tuous and  Christian  Lifc.^  Her  social  position  and  her 
friendship  with  the  philosopher  Locke  brought  her  proposal 
into  some  prominence. 

Sir  George  Wheler,  Royalist,  traveler,  antiquary  and 
clergyman,  was  a  spirit  in  sympathy  with  Nicholas  Ferrar.^ 

1  Overton,  Life  in  the  English  Church,  1660-1714  (London,  1885),  pp. 
148-149. 

2  Fosbrooke,  British  Monachism,  p.  399. 

3  Church  Quarterly  Review,  Jan.,  1893,  p.  471. 
*  Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 

5  Fosbrooke,  op.  cit.,  p.  399. 
^  Overton,  Life  in  the  English  Church,  p.  149. 

^  Pax,  June,  1908,  p.  523,  reviewing  Skipton,  The  Life  and  Times  of 
N.  Ferrar. 


22  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

In  1698  he  published  The  Protestant  Monastery;  or  Chris- 
tian Economics,  containing  Directions  for  the  Religious 
Conduct  of  a  Family.  (London,  1698.)  Edward  Ste- 
phens printed,  about  1696-7,  A  Letter  to  a  Lady,  which 
contains  with  it  The  More  Excellent  Way;  or  a  Proposal 
of  a  compleat  Work  of  Charity.  The  proposal  was  to 
found  a  religious  house  for  men  and  another  for  women. 
The  Proposal  says  that  "a  Religious  Society  of  Single 
Women"  had  begun.^ 

A  semi-monastic  establishment  with  the  characteristic 
educational  and  charitable  features  was  set  up  at  King's 
Cliffe,  1743-4  by  William  Law."  A  friend  of  Law's, 
Archibald  Hutcheson,  M.P.,  died  in  1740.  He  desired  his 
widow  to  live  a  retired  and  religious  life  under  Law's 
guidance.  Mrs.  Hutcheson  was  joined  by  a  Miss  Hester 
Gibbon  (the  historian's  aunt).  They  proposed  to  live  out 
the  precepts  of  Law's  Serious  Call.  A  girl's  school,  a  boy's 
school  and  almshouses  gave  an  outlet  for  their  charitable 
work.^  The  life  was  very  much  like  that  of  the  Ferrars 
at  Little  Gidding.  "The  same  ascetic  practices,  the  same 
attention  to  the  wants  of  the  poor,  the  same  care  for  the 
education  of  the  young,  the  same  partiality  for  the  mystic 
writers,  and,  we  may  add,  the  same  naturally  domineering 
spirit  subdued  by  grace,  are  conspicuous  in  both."  * 

From  these  scattered  attempts  Brother  Denys,  a  member 
of  the  recently  restored  Order  of  S.  Benedict  at  Caldey 
Island,  concluded  that  the  mind  of  the  English  Church 
had  been  throughout  the  period  "toward  the  Religious  or 

^  Ollard,  in  Dictionary  of  English  Church  History,  ed.  S.  L.  Ollard, 
1912,  p.  499. 

2  Church  Quarterly  Review,  Jan.,  1893,  p.  471. 

3  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  cf.  Overton,  William  Law,  Non- 
juror and  Mystic  (London,  1881),  pp.  228-232  for  regulations. 

*  Church  Quarterly  Review,  Jan.,  1893,  p.  471. 


SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  ANTECEDENTS  23 

Monastic  Life."  ^  Such  a  broad  generalisation  is  probably 
not  justified.  The  above  proposals  and  attempts  were 
quite  different  from  the  monasteries  before  the  Reforma- 
tion. In  some  cases  they  were  hardly  more  than  Re- 
treats; and  in  themselves  they  are  of  little  social  impor- 
tance. Nevertheless,  they  gave  the  nineteenth  century  agi- 
tators some  valuable  precedents,  for  these  had  been  born  in 
their  own  England  under  the  sanction  of  their  own  An- 
glican Church.  As  such  they  deserve  a  place  in  an  ac- 
count of  the  monastic  revival  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

With  the  exception  of  William  Law's  House  at  King's 
Cliffe  and  the  suggestions  of  a  few  prominent  men,^  the 
eighteenth  century  reveals  little  interest  in  a  monastic  re- 
vival. This  is  not  surprising  to  any  student  of  church 
history.  "No  such  attempt  was  to  be  expected  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  for  that  was  a  time  of  great  spiritual 
weakness,  and  even  deadness,  throughout  Western  Europe; 
and  in  England  in  particular,  the  Church  was  systematically 
being  repressed  and  weakened  by  the  State."  ^  Anything 
resembling  religious  enthusiasm  was  ridiculed  by  the  church 
authorities.  There  was  little  sympathy  for  the  Laudian 
conception  of  the  historic  church.  Social  and  industrial 
conditions  turned  the  popular  interest  from  the  meditative 

1  Brother  Denys,  Oblate,  O.  S.  B.,  in  Pax,  June,  191 1,  p.  291. 

2  In  1737  Sir  William  Cunninghame  of  Prestonfield,  Edinburgh,  ap- 
proached Archdeacon  Thomas  Sharp  with  a  proposal  for  "a  nunnery 
of  Protestant  religious  and  virtuous  persons,  well  born,  of  the  female 
sex,  conforming  themselves  to  the  Church  of  England."  There  were 
to  be  a  prioress  and  sub-prioress,  but  no  vows.  The  archdeacon  op- 
posed the  plan.  Life  of  Archbishop  Sharp,  ii,  app.  iii,  281-302,  quoted 
by  OUard,  in  Dictionary  of  English  Church  History,  p.  500. 

Richardson,  in  Sir  Charles  Grandison  (1753),  wishes  there  could  be  a 
Protestant  nunnery  in  every  shire. 

John  Wesley  records  {Life  of  Fletcher  of  Madeley,  1786)  that  when 
he  was  young  he  was  greatly  impressed  with  an  account  of  Nicholas 
Ferrar.     Ollard,  loc.  cit. 

3  Frere,  English  Church  Ways  (Milwaukee,  1914),  p.  79. 


24 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


past  to  the  active  present.  For  these  and  other  reasons 
the  monastic  idea  steadily  waned. 

A  proof  of  its  unpopularity  is  seen  in  the  Act  of  1791  ^ 
to  relieve  the  papists  from  certain  penalties  and  disabilities. 
No  toleration,  however,  was  granted  to  persons  "bound  by 
monastick  or  religious  vows."  "  The  seventeenth  century 
denounced  Roman  Catholicism  but  accepted  the  monastic 
idea;  the  eighteenth  century  denounced  the  monks  but  be- 
came more  tolerant  of  the  Romanists.^ 

Thus,  though  by  1539  the  monasteries  were  dissolved, 
the  conventual  ideal  of  life  remained.*  Dormant  during 
Elizabeth's  reign,  it  revived  during  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury in  the  writings  of  antiquaries,  the  opinions  of  divines 
and  the  actual  attempts  of  enthusiasts.  But  in  the  re- 
ligious chill  and  social  activity  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
even  the  idea  perished.  In  1791  the  English  soil  seemed 
less  favorable  to  monasteries  than  at  any  time  since  their 
destruction, 

*  31  George  III,  c.  32,  Statutes  at  Large,  vol.  37. 

2  Par.  17,  "Provided  also  and  be  it  further  enacted  That  nothing  in 
this  Act  contained  shall  make  it  lawful  to  found,  endow  or  establish 
any  religious  order  or  society  of  persons  bound  by  monastick  or  re- 
ligious vows." 

3  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  speaking  in  favor  of  this  bill  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  said  "that  excepting  a  few  bigots  who  were  chained 
by  monkish  persuasion,  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  was  rising  into  a 
generous  freedom  of  religious  ideas  that  did  honor  to  Christianity" 
Cobbett,  Parliamentary  History  of  England  (London,  1812-20),  xxix, 
568).  No  other  mention  of  this  clause  was  recorded  in  the  debates. 
No  voice  was  raised  to  defend  the  monasteries  of  the  Roman  Church ; 
and  no  suggestion  was  made  of  their  possibility  in  the  Anglican  Com- 
munion. 

*  C/.  Brother  Denys  O.  S.  B.,  in  Pax,  June,  1911,  p.  291. 


CHAPTER  II 
French  Pioneers  on  English  Soil 

An  institution  like  that  of  monasticism  is  the  result  of 
growth  and  development.  Hence,  before  showing  how  the 
monastic  ideal,  which  had  been  practically  extinguished  in 
England  by  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  revived  in 
a  materialistic  age  during  the  Oxford  Movement,  it  is  de- 
sirable to  indicate  how  the  French  emigres  of  the  Revolu- 
tion familiarised  the  people  with  the  monastic  establish- 
ments, which  they  were  allowed  to  set  up  in  different  parts 
of  the  country. 

In  1789  and  1790  a  considerable  number  of  Roman 
Catholics  had  come  to  England  as  voluntary  exiles  from 
France.^  In  May,  1791,  Edmund  Burke,  speaking  in  the 
House  of  Commons  on  the  Quebec  Government  Bill,  ex- 
pressed warm  sympathy  for  the  persecuted  Catholics  of 
France,  especially  the  Lazarist  Nuns.^  This  seemed  to  be 
a  signal  of  welcome.  By  the  middle  of  1793  there  were 
about  4000  exiled  French  ecclesiastics  in  Great  Britain.^ 
The  English  government  gave  them  the  royal  palace  at 
Winchester,  where  300  and  eventually  700  priests  organ- 
ized themselves  on  the  basis  of  a  religious  community, 
choosing  M.  Martin  as  superior.*     "Their  regularity  and 

1  Ward,  Dawn  of  the  Catholic  Revival  in  England,  2  vols.  (London, 
1909),  ii,  2. 

^Annual  Register,  1791,  xxxiii,  p.  133. 

3  Lubersac,  Journal  historique  et  religieux  de  I' emigration  et  deporta- 
tion du  clerge  de  France  en  Angleterre  (Londres,  1802),  p.  2. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  3. 

25 


26  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

good  order  surprised  all  who  visited  them."  ^  These  exiles 
were  welcomed  and  generously  supported,  not  only  by  the 
government,  but  also  by  the  best  classes  of  England,  in- 
cluding even  the  Protestant  clergy." 

In  spite  of  the  generous  financial  support,  these  French 
priests  did  not  live  in  idleness.  They  offered  their  services 
as  private  tutors  in  distinguished  families,  as  French  mas- 
ters in  schools,  and  as  missionary  priests  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  chapels  throughout  England.^  This  widespread 
and  diversified  activity  could  not  fail  to  attract  the  atten- 
tion and  often  the  admiration  of  the  English  people.*  "It 
was  not,  however,  their  zealous  labors  in  teaching  the  poor 
and  visiting  the  sick,  which  affected  favorably  Protestant 
opinion  in  regard  to  Catholicism.  But  that  which  left  an 
abiding  impression  in  England,  and  contributed  silently  and 
indirectly  to  the  Catholic  revival,  was  the  patience  in  pov- 
erty, dignity  in  bearing  misfortune,  exemplary  conduct  and 
holy  living  displayed  by  these  victims  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution." ' 

Sympathy,  admiration  and  the  fear  of  Jacobinism  were 
all  paving  the  way  for  the  Catholic  priest  in  England.  And 
a  reception  for  the  French  clergy  prepared  in  a  general 
sense  the  road  for  Roman  institutions.  But  the  specific 
question  of  monasteries  was  soon  brought  to  the  fore. 
The  monastics  were  undoubtedly  the  least  welcome  of  the 

^  Gentleman's  Magazine,  June,  1803,  p.  537. 

2  On  Sept.  20,  1792,  John  Wilmot  called  a  meeting  to  consider  the 
relief  of  these  emigres.  Those  present  included  the  Marquis  of  Buck- 
ingham, William  Pitt,  Edmund  Burke,  Sir  Philip  Metcalfe,  M.P.,  Wil- 
liam Wilberforce,  three  other  members  of  Parliament,  three  Protestant 
clergymen,  and  two  Catholic  laymen.     Ward,  op.  cit.,  p.  19. 

3  Purcell,  Life  and  Letters  of  Ambrose  Philips  de  Lisle  (London, 
1900)  i,  167. 

4  Gentleman's  Magazine,  June,  1803,  p.  537.  Cf.  Anti-Jacobin  Review 
(London,  18003,  iv,  142. 

5  Purcell,  op.  cit.,  p.  167. 


FRENCH  PIONEERS  27 

exiles.  The  Act  of  1791  clearly  revealed  the  English 
antipathy  to  them.^  Only  a  slight  objection  was  raised, 
however,  when  in  October,  1792,  the  first  community,  one 
of  Benedictine  Nuns,  was  established  in  London.  In  fact 
these  nuns  were  merely  passing  through  London  on  their 
way  to  Brussels  and  decided  to  remain  only  at  the  invita- 
tion of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  Mrs.  Fitzherbert  (herself  a 
Roman  Catholic),  and  others.^  The  Mayor  of  Thetford 
objected  to  their  removing  to  Norfolk,  lest  the  appearance 
of  the  nuns  might  cause  trouble  among  the  people.  But 
Bishop  John  Douglass,  vicar-apostolic  of  the  London  dis- 
trict, writes  that  he  easily  silenced  the  opposition.  He 
adds,  "All  the  families,  Protestant  as  well  as  Catholic, 
around  Bodney  in  Norfolk  are  remarkably  fond  of  them."  ^ 
There  were  thirty-six  nuns  in  this  community,  which  never 
returned  to  France.  An  English  lady  could  now  see  a  con- 
vent thriving  on  English  soil  at  the  dawn  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 

One  of  the  first  monastic  foundations  to  be  established 
formally  in  England  was  the  Monastery  of  La  Trappe  at 
Lulworth  in  Dorsetshire.  In  1794  Mr.  Thomas  Weld  fur- 
nished the  ground  and  built  the  house  for  these  Trappists. 
At  first  they  did  not  flaunt  their  monastic  garb  before  the 
public,  but  outside  of  the  walls  they  dressed  as  day  laborers 
and  carters.*  This  precaution  seems  not  to  have  been 
necessary  very  long,  for  in  1800  they  were  receiving  visi- 
tors, and  through  the  medium  of  a  loquacious  brother 
porter  were  communicating  much  knowledge  of  their  mode 
of  life.^     These  monks  maintained  eighty  orphan  children 

1  Cf.  supra,  p.  24. 

2  Ward,  op.  cit.,  ii,  32,  quoting  from  Bishop  John  Douglass's  diary. 
^Ibid.,  p.  33. 

4  Weld,  Letter  to  Bishop  Walmesley,  Nov.  4,  1794,  in  Ward,  op.  cit., 
ij,  35- 

s  Fosbrooke,  British  Monachism,  p.  404. 


28  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

of  the  murdered  French  nobihty.'-  In  1800  there  were 
eighty-six  monks  in  the  institution.^ 

Other  estabhshments  of  monks  and  nuns  were  founded 
during  the  French  Revolution.^  Some  returned  to  France 
after  the  Napoleonic  Wars,  and  some  still  remain.  The 
question  of  importance  here,  however,  is  not  the  fact  of 
their  establishment,  but  the  attitude  of  the  English  toward 
them.  Did  the  coming  of  the  Roman  monasteries  increase 
the  prejudice  against  the  monastic  idea  or  lessen  it?  On 
national  attitudes  it  is  not  safe  to  generalise.  Contem- 
porary periodical  literature  of  that  day  reveals  no  wide- 
spread or  intense  interest  in  these  reestablished  convents. 
A  few  references,  however,  are  rather  enlightening  and  sig- 
nificant. 

In  1 79 1  the  Rev.  George  Henry  Glasse,  Rector  of 
Hanwell,  delivered  a  sermon  in  which  he  discussed  very 
specifically  the  exiled  monks.*  He  recognizes  the  prepon- 
derating evil  of  the  monastic  orders  and  the  popular  hos- 
tility to  them.  Nevertheless  there  are  many  of  exemplary 
virtue  who  add  lustre  to  the  contemplative  life.  He  sees 
the  value  of  the  zeal,  the  austerity,  the  studies,  the  charity 
of  the  monks.  They  "are  accused  of  no  public  crime,  and 
hold  no  principle  dangerous  to  the  state."  Hence  to  drive 
them  from  England  would  be  a  "cruelty  so  refined,  in- 
justice so  complicated,  tyranny  so  execrable,  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  find  language  in  which  to  proclaim  our  pity  for 
the  oppressed — our  abhorrence  and  detestation  of  their  op- 
pressors."    This  sermon  shows  that  hatred  of  the  revolu- 

1  Ibid.,  p.  402. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  407.  But  Petre  in  Notices  of  the  English  Colleges  and 
Convents  (Norwich,  1849),  pp.  31-40,  says  that  by  1817  they  had  grown 
from  five  to  fifty-nine.     They  returned  to  France  in  1817. 

3  For  the  lists  vide  Petre,  op.  cit.,  pp.  31-62,  and  Fosbrooke,  op.  cit., 
pp.  410-412. 

*  Gentleman's  Magazine,  Aug.,  1793,  p.  731,  -uide  appendix,  ii. 


FRENCH  PIONEERS  29 

tionists  of  France  had  overcome  his  natural  antipathy  to 
Roman  institutions,  even  the  monastic  orders.  This  atti- 
tude was  typical  of  many  clergy/ 

Once  established  the  monasteries  received  favorable  com- 
ment from  many  sides.  Thomas  Weld  wrote  of  the  Trap- 
pists  at  Lulworth  in  1794:  "Nobody  molests  or  disturbs 
them,  everybody  is  edified  by  them,  even  Protestants  and 
Methodists  come  under  the  wall  to  hear  them  sing."  ^  Some 
discount  should  perhaps  be  made  from  this  statement  of 
an  enthusiastic  fellow  Romanist,  but  it  is  not  inconsistent 
with  the  opinion  of  Fosbrooke,  the  sworn  enemy  of  mon- 
asteries. "These  Lulworth  monks,"  Fosbrooke  says, 
"though  of  course  mere  automata,  are  humble,  inoffensive 
and  moral.  Superstition,  compatible  with  all  religion  and 
even  infidel  principles,  does  not  necessarily  include  vice; 
and  these  noble-minded  asceticks  maintained  eighty  orphan 
children  of  the  murdered  French  Noblesse,  and  refused  an 
asylum  from  the  Emperor  of  Russia,  because  they  would 
not  rob  a  legitimate  proprietor  of  his  estate."  ^ 

The  nuns  probably  aroused  more  sympathy  than  did  the 
monks.  The  Annual  Register,  telling  of  the  popular  in- 
terest in  the  Carmelite  Nunnery  at  Lanherne,  near  St. 
Columb,  speaks  of  them  as  "venerable  ladies"  who  have 
been  driven  out  of  France  by  the  "philosophical  savages" 
of  the  Revolution.*  A  high  tribute  to  the  refugee  nuns 
was  paid  by  "A  Friend  of  Religious  and  Civil  Liberty" 
(who  at  least  calls  himself  a  Protestant),  writing  in  181 5 

^  That  this  feeling  was  widespread  through  the  clergy  is  shown  by 
the  Addresses  of  the  Clergy  of  the  Diocese  of  Worcester  and  also  of 
Llandaff  to  his  Majesty,  1792  (Annual  Register,  xxxiv,  75).  The 
Romanists  also  requested  this.  Cf.  O'Leary,  An  Address  to  the  Lords 
Spiritual  and  Temporal   (London,  1800),  pp.  15-16. 

2  Letter  to  Bishop  Walmesley,  Nov.  4,  1794,  in  Ward,  op.  cit.,  ii,  35. 

3  Fosbrooke,  British  Monachism,  p.  402. 
*  Annual  Register,  xlvii,  394  (1895). 


30  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

when  England  was  contemplating  the  return  of  the  con- 
ventual orders  to  the  Continent.  "No,"  he  says,  "the  Re- 
ligious never  were  a  burden  to  the  state  which  protected 
them.  .  .  .  The  writer  of  these  reflections  was  an  eye  wit- 
ness of  it  (their  charity).  He  lived  for  several  years  near 
the  habitation  of  a  community  of  these  exiled  nuns.  They 
were  far  from  being  rich  as  was  obvious  from  the  state 
of  the  house  which  they  occupied.  Nevertheless,  with 
their  little  income  and  the  produce  of  their  garden  and 
four  or  five  cows,  they  found  the  means  never  to  refuse 
any  of  the  numberless  poor  who  came  to  the  convent  to 
beg  some  assistance.  They  received  them  all  with  un- 
wearied patience,  heard  with  sympathy  their  long  tales  of 
woe,  .  .  .  and  shared  cheerfully  with  them  the  homely  fare 
of  the  community.  .  .  .  Indeed,  the  charity  of  these  good 
nuns  had  made  them  so  well  known,  that  at  several  miles 
distance  every  poor  family  would  have  instantly  directed 
you  to  their  house."  ^  He  goes  on  to  say  that  their  char- 
ity was  extended  to  Protestants  as  well  as  to  Catholics. 

Did  such  individual  cases  color  men's  general  idea  of 
monastic  orders?  It  may  be  unscientific  in  the  historian 
to  generalise  from  a  few  particulars,  but  it  is  natural  for 
the  man  on  the  street  so  to  do.  And  it  is  the  view  of  the 
Englishman  on  the  street  at  that  time  which  this  chapter 
is  trying  to  portray.  How  easily  does  the  writer  just 
quoted  glide  from  this  specific  case  of  charity  over  into 
general  conclusions.  "This  act  of  humanity,"  he  adds,  "re- 
minded me  of  what  I  had  read  in  the  History  of  the 
French  Settlements  in  Canada,  and  which  shows  that  the 
same  spirit  has  always  animated  religious  communities  of 
women."  ^     Quite  in  the  laudatory  tone  of  the  seventeenth 

1 A    Friend   of   Religious  and   Civil   Liberty.    Some   Reflections   on 
Communities  of  Women  (London,  1815),  pp.  29-30. 
2  Ibid.,  p.  30. 


FRENCH  PIONEERS  3 1 

century,  another  writer  in  1797  says  of  the  old  EngHsh 
monasteries,  "They  maintained  the  indigent  and  prevented 
the  necessity  of  our  heavy  taxes  for  the  poor.  They  en- 
couraged industry  by  the  persons  whom  they  employed  and 
the  easy  rent  of  their  estates.  Celibacy  there  found  a  harm- 
less refuge  without  endangering  the  peace  of  society  by 
the  lawless  pursuit  of  sensual  pleasures.  Since  their  aboli- 
tion their  merit  is  acknowledged,  and  their  enemies  con- 
fess that  the  picture  which  Infidelity  has  drawn  of  them 
has  been  wonderfully  overcharged."  ^  A  similar  defence 
of  monastic  institutions  was  made  by  William  Windham, 
speaking  in  the  House  of  Commons  June  23,  1800.  That 
he  was  influenced  by  the  French  refugees  is  clear.  "Those 
who  had  fled  to  us  were  but  miserable  remains  as  to  their 
means  and  power,  though  not  as  to  the  virtues  they  had 
uniformly  displayed."  "  All  these  citations  tend  to  show 
that  admiration  and  sympathy  for  the  exiles  were  breaking 
down  the  English  anti-monastic  prejudice.  The  ideas  of 
1800  appear  so  different  from  those  of  1791.  But  after 
all  a  few  quotations  do  not  prove  any  desire  for  monas- 
ticism.  Their  significance  must  not  be  overestimated. 
One  event,  however,  cut  through  English  public  opinion  in 
1800  and  revealed  a  cross-section  of  the  monastic  feeling. 
That  event  was  a  bill  in  Parliament. 

In  the  Commons  on  May  22,  1800,  Sir  Henry  Mildmay 
moved  the  following  resolutions  before  the  Committee  of 
the  whole  House :  "That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  com- 
mittee, that  the  temporary  residence  in  this  Kingdom  of 
certain  monastic  societies,  should  be  permitted,  subject  to 
the  provisions  of  an  act  passed  in  the  thirty-third  year  of 
his  present  Majesty,  intituled  'An  Act  for  establishing 
Regulations  respecting  aliens  arriving  in  this  Kingdom,  or 

1  Gentleman's  Magazine,  Aug.,  1797,  p.  636. 
^Annual  Register,  xlii,  141   (1800). 


32  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

resident  therein,  in  certain  cases,'  and  that  the  admission 
of  any  new  members  into  such  societies  should  be  pro- 
hibited, and  the  names  and  numbers  of  the  persons  belong- 
ing thereto  should  be  annually  returned  to  the  Court  of 
quarter-sessions  in  which  they  reside."  ^  In  making  this 
motion  Sir  Henry  expressed  his  strong  approval  of  the 
hospitality  shown  by  England  to  the  French  emigrants  and 
of  their  peaceful  demeanor  and  unassuming  gratitude.  It 
was  also  to  England's  honor  to  have  allowed  the  mo- 
nastics to  discharge  those  vows  which  in  their  mind  were 
humanly  indissoluble;  but  such  indulgence  ought  to  ex- 
pire with  the  life  of  the  present  incumbent.  He  feared 
this  would  not  be  the  case.  "It  fell  within  his  own  obser- 
vation to  know  that  in  each  of  the  two  monastic  societies 
established  at  Winchester,  several  persons  had  been  suffered 
actually  to  take  both  veils,  since  their  residence  there;  and 
as  he  was  credibly  informed  a  great  variety  of  similar  in- 
stances might  be  produced  from  different  parts  of  the 
country."  "  These  practices  should  be  checked  at  once  lest 
Parliament  by  voting  money  for  the  subsistence  of  the 
monks,  should  be  made  a  party  to  "the  revival  of  the  most 
unnatural  part  of  the  Romish  faith."  ^  In  spite  of  all 
their  hospitality  it  could  never  be  the  intention  of  the  gov- 
ernment to  encourage  the  reestablishment  of  monastic  in- 
stitutions in  this  protestant  country.  Another  danger  of 
these  institutions  was  the  free  tuition  which  their  schools 
offered  to  English  children.  Through  their  system  of  edu- 
cation a  great  influence  was  exerted  over  the  minds  of  the 
pupils.* 

This  resolution  was  supported  by  the  speeches  of  Mr. 

'^Annual  Register,  xlii,  139-140  (1800). 

-  Ibid.,  p.  139. 

3  Ihid.,  p.  139. 

^  Mr.  Newbolt's  Speech,  ibid.,  p.  140. 


FRENCH  PIONEERS  33 

Pitt,  Mr.  Johnes  and  Mr.  Bragge.  The  speaker  in  opposi- 
tion was  Mr.  Hobhouse.  On  June  23,  1800,  the  bill  em- 
bodying the  resolution  was  reported  from  the  Committee. 
A  long  and  animated  debate  followed.  Support  was  given 
by  Sir  H.  Mildmay,  Mr.  T.  Jones,  Mr.  Dudley  Ryder, 
Mr.  Erskine,  and  Mr.  Percival.  The  argument  was  much 
along  the  line  of  Mr.  Mildmay's  former  speech.  A  few 
new  points  were  brought  out.  For  instance,  Mr.  Ryder's 
position  was  that  the  bill  would  protect  the  monasteries 
from  suspicion,  but  he  wanted  to  make  sure  they  would 
not  proselytise.  "The  monastic  life,"  he  said,  "was  pretty 
generally  condemned  even  in  Roman  Catholic  countries, 
and  he  had  by  no  means  expected  to  hear  that  defended 
in  the  House  of  Commons."  ^  The  opposition  was  led  by 
Mr.  Windham,  Mr.  Sheridan  and  Mr.  Hobhouse,  on  the 
ground  that  England  should  not  mar  her  record  of  hos- 
pitality, that  the  exiles  were  a  harmless  remnant,  and  that 
when  the  troubles  were  over  in  France  these  monks  would 
return,  carrying  all  their  customs  and  sentiments  with 
them.^  After  a  few  alterations  the  bill  was  passed  by  the 
House  of  Commons,  52  to  24.^ 

In  the  House  of  Lords  the  bill  was  supported  by  the 
Bishop  of  Winchester  and  in  part  by  Lord  Chancellor 
Loughborough.  It  was  opposed  by  Bishop  Horsley  of 
Rochester  as  being  unnecessary  because  of  existing  laws, 
and  as  unconstitutional  and  dangerous  because  of  the  li- 
censing and  dispensing  power  which  it  put  in  the  hands  of 
the  Crown.  The  bishop  favored  the  regulation  of  the 
monastic  schools,  but  desired  the  same  for  the  schools  of 
the  Protestant  dissenters  where  "the  doctrines  of  Jacobin- 
ism, sedition  and  infidelity  were  but  too  frequently  incul- 

^  Ibid.,  p.  142. 
2  Ibid.,  p.  142. 
^  Ibid.,  pp.  143-144. 


34 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


cated  to  his  certain  knowledge."  ^  The  bill  was  lost  in 
the  House  of  Lords. 

More  interesting  than  the  debates  and  the  votes  was  the 
Catholic  attitude  toward  this  bill.  Their  efforts  seem  to 
have  turned  the  tide  in  the  House  of  Lords.^  In  order  to 
silence  the  enemies  of  the  monks,  Father  O'Leary,  an  Irish 
Franciscan,  wrote  a  pamphlet  of  sixty-five  pages  on  the 
subject  of  this  bill.^  He  attributes  Mildmay's  measure  to 
a  controversy  between  Dr.  Sturges,  Chancellor  of  Win- 
chester, and  John  Milner,  a  Roman  priest  later  Bishop 
of  Castabala.  Milner  in  his  history  of  Winchester 
had  depicted  the  "eminent  men  of  religious  orders  who 
had  reflected  lustre  on  the  church  of  Winchester,  in  the 
same  colours  that  any  impartial  Protestant  historian  would 
have  done,  as  several  of  them  have."  *  Sturges  overlooked 
the  benefits  of  the  orders  in  his  denunciation  of  their  fasts 
and  celibacy.  O'Leary  reminded  him  that  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  Bishop  Andrewes  lived  in  a  state  of  celibacy 
and  Bishop  Morley  was  noted  for  his  ascetic  living,  both 
being  revered  prelates  of  the  English  church.^ 

O'Leary  apologizes  for  the  nuns  on  the  ground  of  their 
harmlessness.  They  are  of  great  service  to  the  Catholic 
nobility  in  educating  their  daughters,  but  they  do  not 
proselyte  Protestant  children,  as  charged.  The  Church  of 
England  need  not  be  alarmed  at  the  conversions  made  by 
these  nuns  or  missionaries,  for  "Tom  Paine  has  made  more 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  143-144. 

2  Bishop  Douglass  called  "on  the  old  friend  of  the  Catholics,  Dr. 
Horsley,  Bishop  of  Rochester";  the  nuns  wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Portland 
and  Mr.  Windham ;  Milner  also  wrote  to  Lord  Granville  and  the  Lord 
Chancellor.  Ward,  Dawn  of  the  Catholic  Revival,  p.  208.  Cf.  the 
Lord  Chancellor's  speech — Annual  Register,  xlii,  144-145. 

3  O'Leary,  An  Address  to  the  Lords  Spiritual  and  Temporal  (London, 
1800). 

^  Ibid.,  p.  45. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  46. 


FRENCH  PIONEERS  35 

converts  in  the  three  kingdoms  in  three  years  than  the 
CathoHc  clergy  will  make  in  twenty  thousand."  ^  "One 
Catholic  lady  of  an  edifying  life  and  amiable  manners  in 
the  world,  would  make  more  converts  than  ten  thousand 
cloisters."  ^  Not  only  are  these  religious  orders  declared 
to  be  harmless,  but  they  have  no  status  as  monasteries. 
"A  monastic  institution  requires  a  monastery  endowed  and 
the  sanction  of  the  laws  of  the  state  to  render  the  vows 
of  the  religious  irrevocable."  ^  The  Act  of  1791  pro- 
hibited monasteries  proper.  Hence  what  are  the  few  Eng- 
lish nuns  now  in  England  and  the  few  Irish  nuns  in  Ire- 
land? Merely  "a  few  Catholic  females  who,  from  devo- 
tion form  a  resolution  to  die  old  maids,  and  when  tired 
of  celibacy,  can  marry  in  spite  of  Pope  or  Bishop."  Thus 
this  Catholic  leader,  observing  the  temper  of  the  times, 
did  not  try  to  defend  monasticism,  but  to  deny  its  existence 
in  England,  and  to  offer  an  apology  for  the  ascetic  life.* 

With  such  arguments  as  these  the  monastic  stigma  was 
removed  from  the  French  monks  and  nuns  then  in  Eng- 
land. Protestant  suspicions  seem  to  have  been  allayed. 
"Nothing  more  was  ever  heard  of  the  inspecting  of  con- 
vents, or  of  reviving  the  bill  in  any  form."  ^ 

As  to  the  general  interest  in  the  subject  of  this  bill,  there 
seem  to  have  been  some  differences  of  opinion.  A  recent 
Catholic  writer  thinks  the  bill  did  not  receive  much  atten- 
tion and  was  never  near  a  passage,  being  especially  inop- 
portune at  a  time  when  the  question  of  union  with  Ireland 
was  before  Parliament.^  This  view,  however,  is  somewhat 
controverted  by  O'Leary's  statement,  "One  would  imagine 
that  there  was  a  kind  of  confederacy  among  some  of  the 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  57-58.  ^Ibid.,  p.  51. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  56.  *  Ibid.,  p.  53. 

5  Ward,  Dawn  of  the  Catholic  Revival,  ii,  209. 
^Ibid.,  p.  204. 


36 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


editors  of  the  public  papers  to  ring  the  alarm."  ^  Mr. 
Mildmay,  with  a  typical  politician's  air  and  consequent  un- 
reliability, said  "that  in  submitting  this  subject  to  the  at- 
tention of  Parliament,  he  had  complied  with  the  general 
voice  of  the  public,  laity  as  well  as  clergy."  ^  Mr.  New- 
bolt's  speech  voiced  the  alarm  "among  the  clergy  and 
others,"  ^  To  Mr.  Percival  the  bill  to  check  the  monas- 
teries seemed  important  and  worthy  of  being  the  last 
solemn  act  of  the  British  Parliament.*  The  Annual  Regis- 
ter mentions  the  interest  on  both  sides.^  Hence  this  meas- 
ure seems  to  have  aroused  quite  general  consideration  and 
its  discussion  reveals  a  pretty  fair  cross-section  of  Eng- 
lish opinion  on  the  subject  of  monasteries.  It  shows  the 
English  still  unreconciled  to  the  monastic  idea,  but  their 
hostility  overcome  by  their  hospitality  and  their  belief  in 
its  harmlessness.  Having  triumphed  in  this  public  discus- 
sion, the  monastic  communities  could  live  unmolested  for 
some  years  at  least.  Thus  the  Roman  religious  orders  be- 
came once  more  established  in  England. 

The  direct  influence  of  these  reestablished  monasteries  on 
the  Anglican  monastic  revival  can  not  of  course  be  definitely 
estimated.  That  they  greatly  hastened  Catholic  Emanci- 
pation and  the  coming  of  Roman  institutions  is  almost  un- 
questioned." That  they  paved  the  way  for  the  Oxford 
Tracts  and  the  Puseyite  Movement  was  believed  by  many 
at  the  time  of  those  movements.^     The  Tractarian  publi- 

1  O'Leary,  op.  cit.,  p.  49. 

^Annual  Register,  xlii,  139  (1800). 

3  Ibid.,  p.  140. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  143. 

5  Ibid.,  p.  145. 

•5  B.  R.  W.  in  Fax,  Sept.,  1912,  p.  29 ;  cf.  English  Review,  v,  387 
(June,  1846). 

''  F.  W.  Grey,  in  American  Catholic  Quarterly,  xxxiv,  503  (1909)  ; 
cf.  B.  R.  W.  in  Fax,  Sept.,  1912,  p.  29.  The  English  Review,  June, 
1846,  V,  387,  reviewed  Jules  Gondon,  Conversion  de  soixante  minstres 


FRENCH  PIONEERS  37 

cations  showed  admiration  for  the  French  refugee  clergy/ 
The  EngHshman  no  longer  had  to  go  to  the  continent 
or  to  an  outgrown  age  to  see  a  convent.  The  hideous  pic- 
ture of  the  Catholic  priest  handed  down  by  the  Elizabethan 
tradition  did  not  tally  with  the  spiritual  character,  the  mod- 
esty and  the  gratitude  of  these  French  refugee  monks.^ 
A  poem  of  the  day  tells  how  "half  the  people  of  Lulworth 
are  already  turned,  and  the  parish  clerk  among  them,  by 
the  splendor  and  parade  of  the  ceremonies,  and  structure 
erected  by  foreign  artists,"  ^  at  the  Monastery  of  La 
Trappe.  They  were  shown  that  convents  could  live  in 
England  in  their  own  times.*  Institutions  at  home  may 
lack  some  of  the  attraction  of  those  abroad,  those  of  the 
present  may  lose  some  of  the  halo  of  the  mediaeval;  but 
their  feasibility  is  far  better  known.  All  this  was  a  step 
in  the  preparation  of  the  English  soil  for  the  monastic 
plant,  even  though  the  cultivation  was  by  the  Roman  church 
and  the  land  was  to  lie  fallow  for  forty  years. 

anglicans,  etc.  (Paris,  1846).  Gondon  had  enumerated  the  causes  of 
the  "religious  regeneration  of  England,  and  the  conversions  which  we 
witness ;  Puseyite  Movement,  and  anarchy  of  evangelical  Protestan- 
tism." Among  these  causes  he  mentions  the  hospitable  reception  which 
the  French  emigrant  priests  met  with  in  England  during  the  Revolu- 
tion ;  the  consequence  of  which  was,  not  only  that  the  penal  laws  against 
the  Roman  Catholics  were  necessarily  relaxed,  but  that  the  priests 
had  opportunities  of  introducing  their  principles  into  English  families 
in  which  they  were  received. 

'^British  Critic,  xxxii,  p.  261,  et  seq.   (Oct.,  1842). 

2  Purcell,  Life  of  Cardinal  Manning  (London,  1895),  i,  655. 

^Gentleman's  Magazine,  Ixvi,  pt.  i,  p.  317  (Apr.,  1796),  reviewing  a 
poem  attributed  to  Dr.  Bernard  Hodson,  principal  of  Hertford  Col- 
lege, on  the  building  of  a  monastery  at  Lulworth,  Dorsetshire,  by  the 
monks  of  La  Trappe. 

■*  That  they  observed  these  examples  is  shown  by  Woodhouse,  Mo- 
nasticism.  Ancient  and  Modern  (London,  1896),  p.  2i77-  Cf.  Wacker- 
barth,  The  Revival  of  Monastic  Institutions;  and  their  bearing  upon 
society,  etc.  (Colchester,  1839),  p.  27.  Cf.  Anglo-Catholicus,  The  Mo- 
nastic and  Manufacturing  Systems  (London,  1843). 


CHAPTER  III 

The  Preparation  of  English  Society  for  Monastic 
Institutions 

SEC.  I.    A  period  of  ACADEMIC  DISCUSSION,       180O-1815 

The  first  fifteen  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  might 
be  called  the  academic  period  of  English  monastic  history. 
The  antiquaries  and  book  reviewers  found  food  for  thought 
in  discussions  of  monasticism,  but  the  people  were  en- 
grossed in  the  continental  war.  Two  factors  kept  alive 
what  interest  there  was  in  the  subject. 

One  of  these  factors  was  the  recently  restored  monas- 
teries. After  the  discussion  of  Mildmay's  bill  had  been 
silenced,  the  general  public  seemed  to  lose  interest.  But 
historians  sometimes  attempt  to  breathe  life  into  seeming 
corpses.  In  1802  Thomas  Dudley  Fosbrooke,  the  distin- 
guished antiquary,  wrote  his  British  Monachism,  or  Man- 
ners and  Customs  of  the  Monks  and  Nuns  of  England. 
One  of  the  three  divisions  of  his  subject  was  "The  modern 
introduction  of  Monasticks,  owing  to  the  Political  Surgery 
of  the  French  Revolutionary  charlatans,  who  amputated 
limbs  with  hatchets  and  drew  teeth  with  blacksmith's 
pincers."  ^  The  popularity  of  this  book  shows  that  the 
subject  was  not  an  entirely  dead  issue.^     The  Gentleman's 

1 1817  ed.,  p.  398. 

2  In  preface  to  the  second  edition :  "The  first  edition  of  this  book 
having  been  so  honored  by  the  public  approbation  as  to  be  advertised 
in  sale-catalogues  at  twice  the  original  price." 

38 


PREPARATION  OF  ENGLISH  SOCIETY  39 

Magazine  in  reviewing  this  book  recognizes  the  revival  of 
the  monastic  spirit  and  regards  the  checking  of  this  spirit 
as  the  aim  of  Fosbrooke's  work/ 

In  1 80 1  a  humorous  poem  appeared,  the  title  of  which 
indicates  its  occasion  and  theme :     The  Canonization  of 

Thomas ,  Esq.,  who  has  lately  erected  at  East  L — H, 

Dorset,  a  monastery  and  therein  established  a  body  of 
monks.  The  Stanzas  by  Sternhold  and  Hopkins,  Poets 
Laureate  to  the  monastery.  The  Notes  by  Addison,  Arch- 
bishop Tillotson,  Hume,  Dingenon,  Rennel,  Bishop  Newton, 
Voltaire,  Bishop  Sherlock  and  Judge  Blackstone.  (London, 
Kirby,  1801).  56  pp."  ^  The  poem  tries  to  point  out  that 
the  increase  of  Roman  institutions  should  cause  alarm;  and 
the  reviewer's  comment  reveals  some  general  interest  in  the 
theme.  He  writes :  "We  know  nothing  about  the  monas- 
tery to  which  this  pamphlet  relates,  though  we  have  heard  of 
many  others  of  the  same  description."  That  the  question 
of  monastic  institutions  was  still  regarded  in  181 2  as  of 
some  importance,  is  shown  by  an  article  in  the  Quarterly 
Review.^  After  pointing  out  how  the  Romanists  are  ob- 
truding themselves  on  the  public  and  avowing  the  wildest 
absurdities  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  Quarterly  says  a  brief 
modern  refutation  is  demanded.  The  reviewer  himself  un- 
dertakes a  long  dissertation  against  celibacy.  On  the 
whole,  however,  contemporary  literature  reveals  no  wide- 
spread or  intense  interest  aroused  by  the  restored  mon- 
asteries. 

The  other  factor  in  arousing  interest  in  conventual  in- 
stitutions was  the  Catholic  controversial  writing.  John 
Milner's  History  of  Winchester  was  partly  responsible, 
as  has  been  seen,  for  Mildmay's  bill  of  1800.     His  second 

^Gentleman's  Magazine,  Ixii,  137   (Feb.,  1802). 

2  Reviewed  in  Anti-Jacobin  Magazine,  x,  205-206  (1801). 

3vii,  106  (Mar.,  1812)  ;  cf.  p.  98. 


40 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


edition  ^  aroused  another  storm  of  attack.  His  praise  of 
monasticism  in  general  was  denounced  as  against  historical 
evidence.^  His  apology  for  vows  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  dispensable  in  emergency  was  repudiated  for  the  rea- 
son that  a  vow  is  invalid  because  it  is  sinful,  apart  from  the 
question  of  convenience.^  Milner's  long  and  vehement 
note  on  the  antiquity  of  clerical  celibacy  is  answered  thus: 
"We  allow  his  facts  and  inferences  .  .  .  ;  but  be  it  re- 
membered, that,  as  Protestants,  we  have  little  reverence 
for  musty  canons,  when  reason.  Scripture  and  nature,  re- 
claim against  them."  * 

The  appearance  of  the  Antiquities  of  the  Saxon  Church 
by  John  Lingard,  the  Roman  Catholic  historian  of  Eng- 
land, managed  to  occasion  considerable  controversy.^ 
This  work  was  characterized  by  one  reliable  reviewer  as 
a  controversial  work  to  extol  monks.*'  This  reviewer  an- 
swers that  monasticism  at  its  best  is  a  waste  of  devotion. 
On  the  merits  of  celibacy  Lingard  joined  the  chorus  of 
Catholic  writers.  "On  this  subject  every  Catholic  writer 
dwells  with  an  enthusiasm  for  which  we  are  at  a  loss  to 
account."  ^  In  fact  the  controversial  publications  in  this 
period  ^  indicate  a  concerted  campaign  on  the  part  of  Cath- 

1  Milner,  The  History  Civil  and  Ecclesiastical  and  Survey  of  the 
Antiquities  of  Winchester,  2nd  ed.,  1809. 

^Gentleman's  Magazine,  Ixxx,  147  (Feb.,  1810)  ;  cf.  Quar.  Rev.,  iii, 

367. 

^Quarterly  Review,  iii,  354-355  (May,  1810). 

^Ibid.,  p.  354;  cf.  pp.  365-366. 

5  Lingard,  The  Antiquities  of  the  Saxon  Church   (1806). 

^Quarterly  Review,  vii,  93  (Mar.,  1812). 

7  Ibid.,  p.  loi. 

8  Cf.  Milner,  An  Inquiry  into  Certain  Vulgar  Opinions  concerning  the 
Catholic  Inhabitants  and  Antiquities  of  Ireland — Addressed  to  Protes- 
tant Gentlemen  in  England,  1808.  Cf.  Parkyn,  Monastic  and  Baronial 
Remains  (London,  1816).  Cf.  Gentleman's  Magazine,  Ixxxiii,  pt.  i,  430 
(1813). 


PREPARATION  OF  ENGLISH  SOCIETY  41 

olic  writers  to  arouse  interest  in  Romanist  institutions, 
especially  monasticism  and  its  chief  ally,  celibacy. 

If  there  was  such  a  campaign  it  could  hardly  be  counted 
a  success,  for  at  the  close  of  the  Napoleonic  Wars  there 
seemed  little  hope  of  popularizing  the  Roman  monastic 
orders,  and  no  suggestion  of  such  things  in  the  Anglican 
Communion/  After  the  peace,  however,  the  proposal  to 
send  the  members  of  the  French  orders  back  to  the  conti- 
nent called  forth  an  important  book  in  their  defence.^  Its 
importance  lies  not  so  much  in  its  positive  arguments,  for 
they  may  be  the  opinions  of  only  the  one  man.  Further- 
more while  the  writer  claims  to  be  a  Protestant,  the  book 
appears  to  be  a  Jesuitical  attempt  to  present  Roman  Catho- 
lic views.  The  points  of  interest  to  an  Anglican  history, 
however,  are  the  arguments  it  seeks  to  answer.  In  these 
negative  positions  is  to  be  found  a  good  summary  of  the 
English  Protestant  attitude  toward  monasticism. 

One  chief  argument  which  the  writer  seeks  to  refute  is 
the  fear  of  celibacy  which  some  think  would  deprive  Eng- 
land of  many  good  citizens.  He  answers  that  of  the 
6,262,716  females  in  England,  Scotland  and  Wales 
3,718,501  are  now  unmarried.     Hence  a  few  nuns  will  not 

1  Cf.  Eclectic  Reznew,  xxiv,  553-5  (1816)  ;  also  Eclectic  Review,  vi, 
232  (1808). 

2  A  Friend  of  Religious  and  Civic  Liberty.  Reflections  on  Com- 
munities of  Women  and  Monastic  Institutes  (London,  1815). 

The  preface  gives  the  aim  and  occasion.  "A  Report  having  been 
spread  since  the  last  peace,  and  being  still  generally  prevalent  that  the 
Religious  Communities,  w^hich  the  persecuting  spirit  of  the  French 
Revolution  had  driven  from  their  convents,  v^rould  either  not  be  suf- 
fered to  remain  in  their  native  country  or  obliged  to  renounce  in  some 
degree  their  rules  and  constitution ;  I  thought  it  a  duty  incumbent  upon 
me  to  try  to  remove  the  fears  of  some  well-meaning  people,  and  to 
show  that  there  is  nothing  in  these  religious  establishments,  which  can 
give  the  least  umbrage  to  a  liberal  and  enlightened  nation." — Preface, 
p.  I. 


42 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


affect  the  proportion.^  Catholic  countries  have  not  suffered 
in  population.  Moreover  the  celibacy  that  hurts  is  that 
due  to  luxury  and  selfishness.^  A  second  fear  which  he 
seeks  to  allay  is  that  nuns  will  increase  the  poor  rates  in 
England.^  However,  just  the  opposite  will  be  true,  he 
shows.  The  nuns  will  help  in  philanthropy,  as  for  instance 
in  hospitals  and  asylums.  A  third  belief  of  the  English 
Protestant  is  that  a  life  of  retirement,  penance  and  prayer 
is  one  of  idleness  and  social  uselessness.*  This  he  answers 
by  an  appeal  to  the  example  of  the  first  Christians.^ 
Fourth,  the  nun's  garb  is  ridiculed  by  the  Protestants.^  He 
replies  that  this  same  dress  when  worn  at  a  masquerade 
ball  is  popular.  A  fifth  ground  of  Protestant  attack  is 
the  austerity  and  abstemious  way  of  living  in  convents.^ 
These,  he  maintains,  have  been  greatly  mitigated  in  Eng- 
lish convents ;  ^  and,  moreover,  greater  abstemiousness  is 
healthful.  A  sixth  argument  against  monastic  orders  is 
their  vows,®  which  are  held  to  be  a  restriction  of  liberty. 
He  recalls  the  Biblical  sanction.  The  seventh  point  of  op- 
position is  really  only  an  exploded  superstition,  he  claims, 
namely,  that  of  enclosing  nuns.^°  A  final  charge  to  be  met 
is  that  of  immorality ;  ^^  and  to  this  the  writer  in  reply  shows 
how  inconsistent  the  Protestant  clergy  are  to  complain 
against  the  nuns  while  the  social  evils  of  the  time  are 
greatly  on  the  increase. ^^  A  writer  who  has  essayed  such 
an  extensive  treatment  is  pretty  sure  to  have  collected  a 
somewhat  complete  list  of  the  extant  arguments.  Here 
then  is  a  glimpse  of  English  Protestant  opinion  on  monas- 

1  Ibid.,  p 

^Ibid.,  p 

3  Ibid.,  p 

*Ibid.,  p 

5  Ibid.,  p 

6/fctU,  p 

7  Ibid.,  p 


II,  using  the  census  of  i8ii. 

14.  8  Ibid.,  p.  59. 

27.  9  Ibid.,  p.  64,  et  seq. 

43,  et  seq.  ^°  Ibid.,  p.  81,  et  seq. 

45-  "  ^bid.,  p.  85. 

50,  et  seq.  12  Ji^id,^  p.  88. 

52. 


PREPARATION  OF  ENGLISH  SOCIETY  43 

teries  at  the  close  of  the  Napoleonic  Wars.  How  preva- 
lent these  views  are  there  is  little  to  indicate;  but  this 
writer  treats  them  as  if  quite  general.  In  spite  of  the  fact 
that  the  monastic  orders  were  not  forced  to  return  to  the 
continent,  England  seems  no  nearer  to  Anglican  monas- 
teries than  in  1800.  Less  than  thirty  years  remain  before 
the  first  Anglican  conventual  order  was  founded  on  a 
permanent  basis.  In  the  meantime  a  broad  chasm  had  to 
be  bridged. 

SEC.   II.    SOCIAL   CONDITIONS  FOSTER   MONASTIC  IDEAS. 
1816-1832 

In  the  social  history  of  England  the  first  few  years  fol- 
lowing the  Napoleonic  Wars  are  an  epochal  period  of  ad- 
justment. In  monastic  history  the  importance  of  these 
years  is  less  apparent,  and  hence  commonly  ignored.  It 
is  nevertheless  a  time  of  preparation,  without  which  the 
fruit  of  the  forties  would  have  been  delayed,  if  not  pre- 
vented. 

In  the  first  place,  the  distress  of  the  poor  at  the  close 
of  the  war  caused  great  concern.  Through  the  increased 
Poor  Rates  ^  it  brought  pressure  on  the  higher  classes  and 
hence  the  silent  suffering  of  the  poor  found  a  voice  in  the 
literature  of  the  time.  It  recalled  the  poverty  after  the 
suppression  of  the  monasteries.^  The  charity  of  the  for- 
mer monasteries  was  treated  in  various  periodicals.  Some 
maintained  that  those  establishments  were  a  great  social 
blessing  and  that  their  suppression  was  "the  efficient  cause 
or  occasion  of  the  institution  of  the  Poor  Rates."  ^     Others 

"^Quarterly  Review,  xv,  196  (April,  1816). 

^  Ibid.,  193-194;  cf.  Quarterly  Review,  xxii,  60  (1819)  ;  cf.  Gen- 
tleman's Magazine,  pt.  i,  p.  130  (Feb.,  1815)  ;  cf.  Edinburgh  Review 
(Oct.,  1813)  ;  cf.  Blackwood's  Magazine,  xxxi,  576   (Apr.,  1832). 

3  Gentleman's  Magazine,  Feb.,  1815,  p.  131 ;  cf.  Quarterly  Review, 
April,  1816,  pp.  193-194. 


44 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


refuted  this  position,  holding  that  the  increase  of  pauperism 
came  from  a  wider  source  than  the  suppression  of  the  mon- 
asteries/ but  that  this  event  "spread  the  evils  over  a  wider 
surface."  ^  Some  even  maintained  that  "the  poor  are  bet- 
ter provided  for  by  a  rate  equally  paid  and  carefully  ad- 
ministered than  by  the  gratuitous,  and  of  course,  partial 
alms  of  the  monasteries."^  This  discussion  led  to  some 
quite  concrete  and  positive  suggestions  on  the  part  of  the 
Tory  party  in  church  and  state.  The  Quarterly  Review, 
the  organ  of  that  party,*  devotes  considerable  space  to  the 
history  of  monasteries,  because  it  is  anxious  to  bring  this 
important  subject  before  the  better  classes.^  Moreover  it 
lifts  them  out  of  the  realm  of  mere  academic  discussion 
and  restores  them  to  their  status  of  living  issues.  The 
Quarterly  would  not  reestablish  the  old  monastic  orders 
intact,  but  it  does  desire  reformed  monasteries  without 
vows  and  superstitions.  They  are  needed  to  find  fit  work 
for  certain  classes,  especially  women.  Thus  the  Tory  or 
Church  Party,  under  the  influence  of  the  increased  poverty 
and  the  growing  Poor  Rates,  is  beginning  to  foreshadow  the 
work  of  Pusey  and  Newman  although  the  motives  of  the 
latter  men  were  quite  different,  as  will  be  seen. 

Another  social  fact  that  turned  the  public  attention  to- 

"^  Blackwood's  Magazine,  xxxi,  576  (April,  1832). 

2  Quarterly  Review,  xxxiii,  437-438  (1825-6). 

^Quarterly  Theological  Review,  i,  290  (1824-5). 

*  The  chief  contributors  were  Gifford,  Southey,  Scott  and  Lockhart. 
"For  a  picture  of  the  national  mind  and  opinion,  not  at  its  lovely  and 
lofty  fountain  heads,  nor  yet  in  its  low  flat  levels,  but  in  its  upper 
civilized  ranges,  we  may  well  turn  to  a  few  faded  numbers  of  the 
Edinburgh  or  the  Quarterly."  Elton,  A  Survey  of  English  Literature, 
1780-1830,  2  vols.,  i,  403.  "The  great  Quarterlies  tell  us,  for  good  or 
ill,  what  half  of  cultivated  Britain  was  agreed  in  thinking  at  a  par- 
ticular moment."  Ibid.,  cf.  Chapman,  English  Literature  in  Account 
with  Religion,  p.  130. 

5  Quarterly  Review,  xxii  (1819),  p.  90,  et  seq. 


PREPARATION  OF  ENGLISH  SOCIETY 


45 


ward  convents  was  the  surplus  of  women.  The  war  had 
aggravated  this  condition.^  It  was,  therefore,  advanta- 
geous to  have  these  retreats.  The  reasons  were  that  women 
of  the  middle  class  feel  the  economic  pressure  more  than 
men.  The  speculation  and  extravagance  which  stopped 
with  the  war  left  many  unemployed,  and  the  women  were 
less  able  to  adapt  themselves  than  men.  On  the  continent 
many  women  were  employed  in  shops  but  in  England  very 
few.^  Hence  the  Anglican  Church  felt  that  it  must  sup- 
port asylums  for  English  ladies  or  the  Roman  Catholic 
convents  would  get  them. 

The  acuteness  of  the  problem  of  the  surplus  women  led  to 
an  establishment  of  a  retreat  near  Bath.  'Tn  the  spring 
of  1815  the  Dowager  Duchess  of  Buccleuch,  Lady  Carys- 
foot,  Lady  Anson,  Lady  Willoughby,  and  Lady  Clanbrock, 
having  taken  into  consideration  the  plan  of  an  institute 
calculated  to  afford  the  comforts  of  life  at  a  moderate  ex- 
pense to  ladies  of  respectability  and  small  fortunes,  agreed 
to  form  an  association  for  promoting  establishments  of 
that  nature."  ^  While  insistence  was  made  on  having 
women  of  religious  principles,  there  were  no  vows,  no 
openly  monastic  elements.*  Another  writer  likens  it  to  a 
"secular  convent."  ^  These  retreats  desired  by  the  High 
Church  party  may  have  been  very  unlike  the  old  nunneries 
of  the  1 6th  century,  but  that  they  were  a  step  in  that  di- 
rection is  shown  by  the  citation  of  Ferrar's  community, 

1  The  writer  of  Reflections  on  Religious  Communities  of  Women 
(znde  supra)  estimated  the  number  of  unmarried  women  of  more  than 
20  years  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales,  at  1,239,833,  by  taking  one- 
third  of  all  the  unmarried  women,  as  given  by  census  of  181 1  (pp. 
14-15). 

-  Quarterly  Review,  xxii,  90-91   (1819). 

3  Quarterly  Review,  xxii,  p.  96. 

4  Ibid.,  p.  98. 

^British  Review,  viii,  457,  et  seq.   (1816). 


46  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

of    the    proposals    of    Mary   Astell,    Lady    Masham    and 
others.^ 

A  third  social  factor  in  preparing  the  way  for  the  mo- 
nastic orders  of  women  was  the  need  of  better  nursing. 
This  subject  received  much  attention  in  the  early  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century.^  The  work  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Fry 
in  the  prisons,  begun  in  1813,  was  really  the  first  practical 
demonstration  of  training  nurses  in  England.^  It  stimu- 
lated admiration  for  women's  work  along  all  similar  lines. 
A  pamphlet  entitled  Protestant  Sisters  of  Charity  *  cited 
the  commission  which  Louis  XVI  had  sent  to  investigate 
English  hospital  conditions.  This  commission  reported 
that  there  were  in  England  two  notable  deficiencies,  viz., 
the  zeal  of  the  French  parochial  clergy  and  the  charity  of 
the  Hospital  nuns.^  This  interest  in  better  nursing  meant 
an  interest  in  religious  orders,  for  "there  was  no  inkling 
of  an  idea  that  refined  and  conscientious  nursing  could  be 
thought  of  outside  the  bands  of  a  religious  Sisterhood,  and 
so  lacking  was  that  time  in  a  rational  humanity,  that  the 
idea  would  no  doubt  have  seemed  preposterous."  ^  Robert 
Southey  and  Dr.  Gooch  "an  eminent  and  recognized  physi- 
cian" ^  were  leaders  in  advocating  nursing  reform  and  for 
this  the  means  in  their  opinion  were  Protestant  Sisters  of 
Charity,   modelled  after  the  Beguines  they  had  seen  in 

^Ibid.,  pp.  93-95- 

2  Dock,  History  of  Nursing,  4  vols.  (New  York,  1903-12),  iv,  62  et 
seq. 

^Ibid.,  p.  72. 

'^Protestant  Sisters  of  Charity;  a  Letter  Addressed  to  the  Lord 
Bishop  of  London  (London,  1825). 

^  Cf.  Quarterly  Review,  xv,  230  (Apr.,  1816). 

«Dock,  op.  cit.,  ii,  64.  Cf.  Quarterly  Rev.,  xiii,  470;  cf.  Life  and 
Correspondence  of  Robert  Southey,  ed.  by  C.  C.  Southey  (N.  Y.,  1855), 
pp.  326  et  seq.;  cf.  Bath  Chronicle,  Dec.  13,  1808;  cf.  Blackwood's  Mag- 
azine, xviii,  732-735  (Dec,  1825). 

7  Jameson,  Sisters  of  Charity  (London,  1855),  p.  92. 


PREPARATION  OF  ENGLISH  SOCIETY 


47 


Flanders.^  As  early  as  1816  Southey  had  written  to 
Sharon  Turner,  "Would  that  they  had  an  order  of  Beguines 
in  England!  .  .  .  The  total  abstinence  of  religion  from 
our  poor-houses,  alms-houses  and  hospitals  is  as  culpable 
in  one  way  as  the  excess  of  superstition  is  in  another."  ^ 
These  nursing  Sisters  were  needed  also  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts. A  country  curate  in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Bishop 
of  London,  December,  1825,  portrays  the  poor  medical 
facilities  of  the  rural  districts.  The  doctors  are  unable  to 
help,  the  curates  are  too  poor  to  help.  Hence  there  is  a 
need  for  resident  nurses.^  Dr.  Gooch  goes  further  and 
outlines  specific  plans.  "Let  them  be  selected  for  good 
plain  sense,  kindness  of  disposition,  and  deep  piety.  Let 
them  be  placed  as  nurses  and  pupils  in  the  hospitals  of 
Edinburgh  and  London."  *  When  trained  they  should  be 
placed  two  by  two  in  a  cottage  in  the  center  of  some  coun- 
try district.  The  interest  in  this  subject  was  widened  by 
the  reports  of  the  soldiers  who  had  been  nursed  by  the 
Sisters  of  Charity  on  the  continent.'  No  comment  is 
needed  to  show  how  this  agitation  for  better  nursing,  so 
long  as  it  was  regarded  as  impossible  apart  from  re- 
ligious Sisterhoods,  was  paving  the  way  for  conventual 
orders. 

SEC.    III.    CHURCH    CONDITIONS    TURN    ATTENTION    TO 
MONASTIC   ORDERS 

As  soon  as  the  war  was  over,  attention  was  turned  to 
the  deplorable  state  of  the  church.     The  church  had  not 

1  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Robert  Southey,  p.  326. 

2  Ibid. 

3  Protestant  Sisters  of  Charity,  pp.  19-20. 
*  Quoted  in  Jameson,  op.  cit.,  p.  94. 

5  The  words  of  M.  Portalis,  in  praise  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  who 
had  ministered  to  the  English  soldiers  at  Pau  (1814)  :  "This  digression 
may  be  excused  in  gratitude  to  a  most  useful  and  exemplary  order,  to 


48  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

kept  pace  with  England's  industrial  development.  The 
parochial,  like  the  electoral,  system  had  not  been  adapted 
to  changing  populations.  Even  in  some  country  parishes 
the  Anglican  church  did  not  provide  for  the  moral  train- 
ing of  the  poor  peasantry,  leaving  them  to  the  mercy  of 
the  Methodists. '^  The  greatest  lack,  however,  was  in  the 
cities.^  By  the  Act  of  1818  a  commission  (to  continue  for 
ten  years)  was  appointed  to  "examine  the  state  of  the 
parishes  and  extra-parochial  places  in  the  metropolis  and 
vicinity,  and  other  parts  of  England  and  Wales,  to  ascer- 
tain in  which  additional  churches  and  chapels  are  most 
required,  and  the  most  effectual  means  of  affording  such 
accommodation."  fi,ooo,ooo  was  put  at  their  disposal.^ 
In  London  there  were  7  parishes  with  20,000  to  30,000 
more  inhabitants  than  their  churches  could  hold.  In  Liver- 
pool only  21,000  out  of  44,000  could  be  accommodated 
in  the  established  churches.  In  Manchester  the  churches 
would  accommodate  11,000  out  of  a  population  of  79,000. 
In  the  diocese  of  Winchester  church  facilities  were  needed 
for  265,000  more  persons,  or  four-fifths  of  the  popula- 
tion. In  the  diocese  of  York  additional  churches  were 
needed  for  580,000  people  and  in  diocese  of  Chester  for 
1,040,000.     In  a  circle  of  ten  miles  around  London  it  was 

whose  pious  offices  so  many  of  our  wounded  countrymen  are  beholden ; 
perhaps  also  it  may  lead  to  some  useful  thoughts."  Quoted  in  Quar- 
terly Review,  xiii,  470-471    (July,   1815). 

'^Quarterly  Review,  xv,  201   (April,  1816). 

2  "The  deficiency  is  greatest  in  growing  towns  and  cities,  the  very 
places  where  religious  instruction  is  more  peculiarly  required ;  it  is 
an  evil  which  has  arisen  with  the  commercial  prosperity  of  the  country 
and  keeps  pace  with  it."     Quarterly  Review,  xxiii,  554  (1820). 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  553-554  ;c/.  Chalmers,  Christian  and  Civil  Economy  of 
Large  Towns,  i,  112;  cf.  Henley,  A  Plan  of  Church  Reform  (London, 
1832)  ;  cf.  The  Real  Causes  of  the  Papal  Aggression  Considered  (Lon- 
don, 1851),  pp.  7-12. 


PREPARATION  OF  ENGLISH  SOCIETY 


49 


estimated  that  977,000  were  shut  out  from  the  common 
pastoral  offices  of  the  EstabHshed  Church.^  One  writer 
estimates  that  all  the  churches  will  accommodate  only  about 
one-tenth  of  the  population.^ 

In  devising  a  remedy  the  Churchmen  recalled  the  con- 
ditions in  the  time  of  the  monasteries.  "That  they  (the 
monks)  interfered  with  the  parochial  clergy  in  many  re- 
spects and  lessened  their  utility  in  diminishing  their  in- 
fluence is  undeniable;  but  so  long  as  they  existed,  there 
was  no  lack  of  religious  instruction,  such  as  it  was ;  and  in 
extensive  parishes  and  thinly  peopled  countries,  the  itiner- 
ant friars  performed  those  duties  which  a  stationary  min- 
istry could  but  imperfectly  discharge."  ^  The  more  they 
compared  the  present  with  the  past,  the  more  attractive 
the  old  monastic  orders  looked.  "While  they  existed  the 
Church  had  in  itself  a  principle  of  growth  which  kept  pace 
with  the  growth  of  cities,  the  general  increase  of  popula- 
tion, and  the  necessities  of  society.  ...  It  is  to  be  re- 
gretted that  the  revenues  of  these  orders,  instead  of  being 
so  scandalously  squandered,  had  not  been  applied  to  the 
foundation  of  institutions,  such  as  might  easily  have  been 
devised,  retaining  all  that  was  good  in  the  former  without 
any  of  the  alloy."  *  Not  only  did  they  look  with  admira- 
tion toward  the  destroyed  monasteries  of  their  own  Eng- 
land but  they  also  compared  the  efficiency  of  the  Roman 

1  A  Friend  of  Religious  and  Civil  Liberty,  Reflections,  p.  100 ;  cf.  the 
six  works  reviewed  in  Quarterly  Review,  xxiii,  552  et  seq.   (1820). 

^Quarterly  Review,  xxiii,  555  (1820). 

^Quarterly  Review,  xxiii,  555  (1820). 

'^  Ibid.,  pp.  552-553  ;r/.  Gentleman's  Magazine,  Ixxiv,  722  (Aug., 
1804).  The  contrast  of  the  manufacturing  system  with  the  monastic 
is  brought  out.  "Our  forefathers  built  convents  and  cathedrals — the 
edifices  which  we  have  erected  are  manufactories  and  prisons,  the  for- 
mer producing  tenants  for  the  latter."  Quarterly  Review,  xxiii,  554 
(1820). 


50  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

monastic  missionaries  with  their  Protestant  organization.^ 
In  spite  of  their  repudiation  of  Roman  CathoHcism,  the 
increasing  favor  toward  reformed  monastic  institutions  on 
the  part  of  the  Quarterly  Reviewers,  who  may  safely  be 
taken  as  the  spokesman  of  the  High  Church  party,  is  too 
apparent  for  further  comment. 

SEC.  IV.    THE  INFLUENCE  OF  CONTINENTAL  TRAVEL  ON 
MONASTIC    IDEAS 

The  popularity  of  travelling  on  the  continent  was  marked 
among  the  English  after  the  Napoleonic  Wars.  So  prev- 
alent did  it  become  that  it  called  forth  many  articles  on  its 
dangers.^  Fears  were  expressed  that  the  English  trav- 
ellers would  imbibe  too  many  of  the  continental  ideas. 
"Popish  absurdities"  were  among  the  tabooed  dangers.^ 
If  monastic  ideas  were  classed  among  the  "absurdities," 
the  English  fears  were  well-grounded,  for  certainly  many 
travellers  have  left  an  echo  of  their  admiration.  The 
privations  of  the  monastics  in  the  war-swept  countries 
aroused  sympathy.  "Notwithstanding  my  staunch  Prot- 
estantism," writes  one  tourist,  "I  sighed  during  the  course 
of  my  tour  over  the  ruins  of  many  a  convent,  and  ten- 
derly sympathized  with  many  a  monk  and  nun  in  their 

1  The  Quarterly  Review  (xxiii,  552,  1820)  notes  that  even  in  Spanish 
Indies  and  Brazil,  it  is  impossible  to  provide  for  the  spiritual  instruc- 
tion of  the  people  over  so  wide  a  surface ;  and  "if  this  is  impracticable 
for  the  Romish  Church,  with  its  celibacy,  its  power,  its  admirable 
organization,  its  great  auxiliary  force  of  Regulars,  under  the  most 
despotic  discipline  and  the  zealous  aid  of  government — how  much  less 
is  it  to  be  effected  by  Protestant  churches  to  which  all  these  advan- 
tages are  wanting."  Cf.  British  Review,  xxii,  150-151  (1824),  for  a 
tribute  to  monks  of  Canada. 

2  Christian  Observer,  xviii,  668  et  seq.  (Oct.,  1819)  ;  cf.  Quarterly  Re- 
view, xxxviii,  145  et  seq.  (1828);  cf.  Blackwood's  Magazine,  xxii,  286 
(Sept.,  1827). 

'  Blackwood's  Magazine,  ibid. 


PREPARATION  OF  ENGLISH  SOCIETY  51 

privations."  ^  After  praising  the  monks  for  their  industry, 
morality  and  general  humanity,  the  writer  adds,  "The 
abbots  here,  as  formerly  in  England,  have  stood  forth  the 
advocates  of  the  liberty  of  the  people."  ^  The  antiquity 
and  permanence  of  the  monastic  institutions  gave  them  a 
sort  of  halo  in  the  eyes  of  the  English  traveller,  especially 
in  contrast  to  the  shifting  institutions  of  the  recent  revolu- 
tion.^ The  wealth  and  dignity  of  some  religious  orders 
elicited  admiration  *  at  a  time  when  the  Protestant  clergy 
on  the  continent  and  in  some  cases  at  home  were  poor  to 
the  point  of  inefficiency.  The  governmental  suppression 
of  monasteries  in  Spain  was  condemned  by  one  traveller 
as  rash  and  ruthless  because  of  the  good  works  of  some 
of  the  institutions.^ 

The  native  orders,  such  as  the  Sisters  of  Charity  and 
the  Beguines,  came  in  for  the  most  unqualified  praise. 
Southey  could  not  speak  too  highly  of  these  devoted  women 
jyhom  he  had  seen  at  Ghent  and  elsewhere.®  Dr.  Gooch 
adds  his  tribute.  "When  I  was  in  Flanders  recently  I  saw 
at  Bruges  and  Ghent  some  of  this  singular  and  useful 
order  of  nuns — they  are  all  of  a  respectable  station  in 
society  and  dedicate  themselves  to  the  most  menial  attend- 
ance on  the  sick."  ^  The  praise  of  these  Sisters  of  Char- 
ity was  echoed  by  a  curate  who  had  lived  in  France  for 

*  "A  Tour  Through  Various  Parts  of  the  Netherlands  and  Germany 
in  1815,"  in  Gentleman's  Magazine,  Ixxxvi,  pt.  ii,  pp.  391-392  (Nov., 
1816). 

2  Ibid.,  p.  392. 

3  Eustace,  A  Tour  Through  Italy,  ii,  241-242,  reviewed  in  Edinburgh 
Review,  xxi,  378  et  seq.  (July,  1813). 

*  London  Magazine,  Feb.,  1824,  describing  a  Benedictine  Monastery 
at  La  Cava. 

^  Blackwood's  Magazine, -XAV,  163-166  (Aug.,  1823). 

^  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Robert  Southey,  pp.  319-320. 

''Blackwood's  Magazine,  xviii,  732  (Dec,  1825). 


52 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


several  years  ^  and  by  "an  English  Churchman"  who  had 
spent  some  years  on  the  continent."  These  last  mentioned 
orders  being  less  restricted  and  more  active,  made  a  greater 
appeal  to  the  Protestant  Englishman  than  did  the  others. 
Therefore  while  he  condemned  Popery,  he  could  accept 
these.  For  instance,  one  writes :  'T  strongly  and  deeply 
lament  the  errors  of  Popery.  ...  In  every  part  of  this 
country  (France)  are  found  numerous  respectable  females, 
who  dedicate  their  whole  time  to  religious  and  charitable 
offices.  They  are  nuns  and  Roman  Catholics,  of  various 
degrees.  ...  I  can  not  conceive  any  objection  to  the  in- 
stitution of  similar  societies,  under  Protestant  regulations, 
in  Great  Britain.  Protestant  females  in  Great  Britain,  as 
well  as  Roman  Catholic  in  France,  will  be  ready  to  do  the 
good  work  as  soon  as  competent  authority  and  protection 
shall  be  afforded  them.  Their  offices  may  be  the  same 
though  not  bound  by  the  vow  which  Roman  Catholic  dis- 
cipline requires."  ^  Some  Churchmen,  appealing  to  the 
testimony  of  "every  intelligent  person  who  has  travelled 
in  Catholic  countries,"  praise  the  popular  effect  of  the 
Roman  forms  and  discipline,  and  "almost  wish  they  had 
still  been  'suckled  in  a  creed  outworn.'  "  * 

While  the  available  record  of  travellers'  impressions  can 
not  be  called  a  conclusive  proof,  and  while  a  few  returned 
with  animosity  renewed,^  the  general  effect  of  the  exten- 
sive continental  travel  appears  to  have  been  a  lessening 
of  the  antimonastic  prejudice  and  even  a  kindling  of  the 
desire  for  such  institutions  of  a  modified  type. 

^  Protestant  Sisters  of  Charity;  A  letter  addressed  to  the  Lord  Bishop 
of  London,  Dec,  1825^  p.  17. 

2  Christian  Remembrancer,  Nov.,  1822,  p.  668. 

3  Ibid.,  quoting  a  letter  from  an  English  Churchman. 
^Quarterly  Review,  xxiii,  555-557    (1820). 

5  Blackwood's  Magazine,  xxii,  285-287  (Sept.,  1827)  ;  cf.  London  Mag- 
azine, Jan.,  1823. 


PREPARATION  OF  ENGLISH  SOCIETY 


53 


SEC.    V.    THE   ROMANTIC    WRITERS   AND    MONASTIC    IDEALS 

In  addition  to  Southey,  whose  interest  in  monasteries 
has  already  been  mentioned/  two  other  writers  at  least 
deserve  mention  in  this  account.  Wordsworth's  opinion 
of  monastic  institutions  is  indicated  in  his  Ecclesiastical 
Sonnets  of  1 820-1.  After  praising  the  Saxon  monasteries, 
he  denounces  the  selfishness,  greed  and  voluptuousness  of 
the  seculars  which  came  to  characterize  the  monks.  Hence 
their  dissolution  was  a  natural  consequence.  But  Words- 
worth pictures  in  sympathetic  words  the  "lonely  nuns"  go- 
ing forth,  some  glad  to  be  free,  but  most  of  them  sad  and 
homeless.  He  pays  his  tribute  also  to  the  saintly  Fisher 
and  the  unbending  More.  The  author  says  that  these 
sonnets  were  occasioned  by  his  love  for  the  past  and  his 
interest  in  the  Catholic  Question.  From  early  radicalism, 
he  had  reacted  to  conservatism,  which  saw  the  Roman  in- 
stitutions, as  "not  utterly  unworthy  to  endure."  " 

Greater  interest  in  monastic  orders  was  taken  by  Sir 
Walter  Scott.  He  always  spoke  of  the  monks  as  having 
alone  kept  the  lamp  of  learning  alight  in  a  dark  and  bar- 
barous age.^  While  he  denounced  their  greed  at  times,  he 
did  so  in  no  wholesale  manner.  His  belief  in  the  supe- 
riority of  their  architecture  was  evidenced  not  only  in  his 
words,  but  also  in  his  restoration  of  the  old  monastery  of 
Melrose.*  To  estimate  the  influence  of  Scott  in  arousing 
interest  in  a  monastic  revival  is  futile.     That  his  works,  so 

1  Southey's  son,  in  enumerating  his  father's  interests,  gives  a  place 
of  prominence  to  his  desire  for  the  establishment  of  Protestant  Sisters 
of  Charity.     Life  and  Correspondence  of  Robert  Southey,  p.  380. 

2  Wordsworth,  op.  cit.;  cf.  Cambridge  History  of  English  Literature, 
xi,  108.  "His  Ecclesiastical  Sonnets  are  the  Anglican  counterpart  on  a 
much  narrower  basis  of  Chateaubriand's  Genie  du  Christ ianisme." 

3  Matthews,  Abbottsford  and  Scott    (Edinburgh,  1866),  p.  167. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  161. 


54 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


widely  read,  had  some  effect  in  breaking  down  the  preju- 
dice against  the  old  Romanist  institutions  in  general  is 
commonly  asserted.  "Bishops  and  priests,  monks  and 
nuns,  pilgrims  and  crusaders,  no  longer  hideous  caricatures 
produced  by  ignorance  and  prejudice,  were  presented  to 
English  eyes  in  their  true  colors.  The  sarcasm  with  which 
Scott  lashed  unworthy  and  ambitious  prelates,  profligate 
priests,  lazy  and  debauched  friars,  only  enhances  the  rever- 
ence with  which,  in  his  novels  and  poems,  he  speaks  of 
austere  and  holy  men  under  the  monk's  cowl  or  the  bishop's 
mitre."  ^  Scott's  influence  should  be  classed  as  one  of  the 
antecedents  of  the  Oxford  Movement  as  well  as  of  the 
Catholic  Emancipation.^  A  specific  instance  of  this  influ- 
ence is  found  in  the  Reminiscences  of  Forty  Years  by  an 
Hereditary  High  Churchman.^  "My  mother,"  he  says, 
"initiated  me  in  the  Waverley  Novels."  "As  I  read 
through  Sir  Walter  Scott's  poems  and  novels,  it  seemed  to 
me  that  the  priests  and  services  of  the  Church  of  Rome 
had  more  than  a  due  share  of  rich  dresses,  music  and  ac- 
companiments, as  well  as  of  influence  with  their  flocks."  * 
In  breaking  down  anti-Romanist  superstitions  and  paving 
the  way  for  the  Oxford  Movement,  Scott  deserves  a  place 
as  an  indirect  antecendent  of  the  monastic  revival.  More- 
over his  specific  attention  to  monks  and  nuns  must  have 
had  a  direct  influence  in  this  movement,  although  it  can 
not  be  proven  or  measured.     The  share  of  the  Romantic 

*  Purcell,  Life  and  Letters  of  Ambrose  Philip  de  Lisle,  2  vols.  (Lon- 
don, 1900)  p.  169. 

2  Gladstone  said :  "I  am  delighted  to  see  that  among  the  antecedent 
forces  of  the  (Oxford)  Movement  you  have  given  a  prominent  place 
to  Sir  Walter  Scott."    Ibid.,  p.  169. 

3  Smith,  Reminiscences  of  Forty  Years,  by  an  Hereditary  High 
Churchman  (London,  1868),  p.  5. 

*Ibid.,  p.  10. 


PREPARATION  OF  ENGLISH  SOCIETY 


55 


writers,  therefore,  in  reviving  monastic  ideas  must  be  recog- 
nized but  not  overestimated/ 

SEC.   VI.    EVIDENCES   OF   INTEREST   IN    MONASTIC    REVIVAL 

Did  all  the  above  factors  produce  any  results?  It  is  of 
course  impossible  definitely  to  assign  causes  in  the  realm 
of  influence.  We  can  speak  only  of  antecedents;  but  the 
evidences  of  interest  in  monastic  orders  during  this  period 
are  worthy  of  note.  The  popularity  of  books  on  this  sub- 
ject is  a  good  criterion.  For  example  the  new  edition»of 
Dugdale's  Monasticon  ^  was  subscribed  for  with  great  avid- 
ity before  its  publication.^  Fosbrooke's  British  Monachism 
exhausted  its  first  edition  and  a  second  was  soon  re- 
quired.* In  1824  Southey  wrote  that  his  publisher  rec- 
ognized the  popular  interest  in  his  proposed  History  of  the 
Monastic  Orders  and  was  negotiating  with  him.  If  he 
should  offer  him  £500  a  volume,  Southey  would  make  it 
his  chief  employment.^  Dr.  Gooch's  articles  on  better  nurs- 
ing and  the  need  of  Sisters  of  Charity  seem  to  have  aroused 
considerable  interest.  Southey  writes  to  him  on  December 
18,  1825,  "It  is  not  surprising  that  your  letters  in  Black- 
wood should  have  produced  so  much  impression."  ^ 

The  interest  in  monastic  institutions,  however,  still 
seemed  to  be  greater  on  the  negative  side.  If  there  was 
some  High  Church  enthusiasm  for  the  revival  or  intro- 
duction of  certain  religious  orders,  there  was  more  general 

'^  Mention  should  be  made  of  Disraeli's  tribute  to  the  former  monas- 
teries in  his  novel  Sybil  (1845),  2nd  ed.,  67,  passim  (London,  i88i). 

2  Dugdale,  Monasticon  Anglicanum,  new  ed.  (London,  1817-1830). 

^Gentleman's  Magazine,  Ixxxiii,  pt.  i,  p.  430  (1813). 

*2nd  ed.,  1817. 

5  Letter  to  G.  C.  Bedford,  in  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Robert 
Southey,  p.  426. 

^  Letter  to  Dr.  Gooch,  ibid.,  p.  439. 


56  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

interest  in  preventing  the  purely  monastic  elements.  The 
opposition  to  enforced  clerical  celibacy  was  very  marked.^ 
The  immorality  of  contemporary  foreign  convents  and  the 
(deterioration  of  the  former  monasteries  were  cited.  Some, 
therefore,  condemned  the  whole  monastic  principle.^ 
Southey,  on  the  other  hand,  considered  the  revival  of  re- 
ligious orders  as  possible  without  the  irrevocable  vows  of 
celibacy.  He  recognized  the  uselessness  and  impropriety 
of  celibacy,^  at  the  same  time  declaring  the  dissolution  of 
the  Religious  Houses  to  be  the  greatest  evil  attending  the 
Reformation.* 

Not  only  celibacy  but  monastic  vows  of  other  kinds  were 
repugnant  to  the  Englishmen  at  this  time.  "I  know  that 
jto  an  Englishman,  to  whom  liberty  is  almost  every  bless- 
ing, the  mention  of  obedience,  enclosures,  and  especially 
of  an  irrevocable  engagement,  immediately  strikes  his  mind 
with  disgust  and  horror."  ^  Ascetic  practices  also  had  to 
be  apologized  for,  defended  and  denied  by  the  advocates 
of  monasteries  in  England."  Southey  in  his  revived  orders 
would  "take  from  such  communities  \^i.e.,  the  pre-Reforma- 
tion  institutions]  their  irrevocable  vows,  their  onerous  laws, 
their  ascetic  practices."  ^  He  admitted  that  the  name 
"nunnery"  is  deservedly  obnoxious  because  of  these  popish 

^A  Friend  of  Religious  and  Civil  Liberty,  Reflections,  etc.,  p.  lo;  cf. 
Eclectic  Review,  viii,  497  ct  seq.  (1817)  ;  xi,  265  et  seq.  (1819);  cf. 
Gentleman's  Magazine,  Ixxxviii,  pt.  i,  pp.  43  et  seq.;  cf.  Quarterly 
Theological  Review,  iii,  93  et  seq.  (1826)  ;  cf.  Christian  Remembrancer, 
Sept.,  1822,  p.  528;  cf.  Blackwood's  Magazine,  xxi,  63  (Jan.,  1827). 

2£.  g.,  Quarterly  Theological  Review,  iii,  99  (1826)  ;  cf.  The  Chris- 
tian Remembrancer,  Sept.,  1822,  p.  528. 

3  Sir  Thomas  More;  or  Colloquies  on  the  Progress  and  Prospects 
of  Society,  2  vols.   (London,  1829),  ii,  39. 

^Ibid.,  p.  36. 

^  A  Friend  of  Religious  and  Civic  Liberty.    Reflections,  etc.,  p.  64. 

^Ibid.,  pp.  52-59. 

''  Sir  Thomas  More;  or  Colloquies,  ii,  2)'^. 


PREPARATION  OF  ENGLISH  SOCIETY  57 

corruptions,  especially  the  life-long  vows,  "This  dreadful 
abuse  is  so  notorious  that  such  institutions  would  not  be 
tolerated  even  in  superstitious  countries  unless  some  weighty 
advantages  were  found  in  them,  whereof  the  great  body 
of  the  people  are  sensible.  And  how  easily  might  those 
advantages  be  obtained  in  communities  founded  upon  the 
principles  of  our  own  Church  and  liable  to  no  such  evils !"  ^ 
It  is  because  the  Beguines  are  free  from  such  vows,  that 
he  chose  them  for  his  model.^  But  that  he  looked  upon 
the  religious  life  as  no  temporary  state  is  shown  by  his 
statement  that  no  one  was  ever  known  to  leave  an  estab- 
lishment of  Beguines  which  he  visited.^ 

In  such  an  atmosphere,  the  only  monastic  orders  that 
could  be  expected  in  England  must  be  of  a  decidedly  re- 
formed type.  A  very  complete  summary  of  the  qualifica- 
tions demanded  "by  many  thinking  men"  is  found  in 
Sharon  Turner's  popular  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons.*' 

Even  now  in  the  opinion  of  many  thinking  men,  if  they  were 
confined  to  the  middle  and  declining  periods  of  life,  if  they 
were  frequented  by  those  only,  who,  after  having  discharged 
all  their  social  duties,  desired  to  withdraw  from  the  occupa- 
tion, troubles  and  fascinations  of  the  world,  to  a  halcyon  calm 
of  mind,  uninterrupted  study,  tranquil  meditation,  or  devo- 
tional sensibility;  if  they  were  not  shocked  by  indissoluble 
vows  of  continence,  imprisoning  the  repining:  if  they  were 

1  Ibid.,  pp.  36-37- 

2  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Robert  Southey,  p.  439. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  320.  Southey  also  expressed  approval  of  a  life  as  strict 
as  that  of  the  Franciscans.  "If  you  had  seen,  as  I  once  did,  a  Fran- 
ciscan of  fourscore,  standing  in  the  cloister  of  his  convent,  where  his 
brothers  lay  beneath  his  feet,  and  telling  his  beads  with  a  countenance 
expressive  of  the  most  perfect  and  peaceful  piety,  you  would  have  felt 
with  me  how  desirable  it  was  that  there  should  be  such  institutions  for 
minds  so  constituted."  Letter  to  Sharon  Turner,  Apr.  2,  1816.  Ibid., 
p.  326. 

*  1828  ed.,  Tom.  iii,  491.    7th  ed.,  1852,  shows  its  popularity. 


58  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

made  seminaries  of  education,  and  allowed  to  be  temporary  asy- 
lums of  unprovided  youth;  and  if  their  rules  and  habits  were 
framed  on  such  moral  plans  and  religious  formulae  as  should 
be  found  worthy  of  an  intellectual  age,  which  seeks  to  combine 
the  fancy  and  the  feeling  in  a  sweet  harmony  with  its  knowl- 
edge and  reason ;  thus  formed  and  directed,  such  institutions 
might  again  contribute  to  the  happiness  of  the  aged,  the  desti- 
tute, sorrowful,  lonely,  abstracted,  studious,  pensive,  unambi- 
tious, embarrassed  and  the  devout  as  well  as  to  the  instruc- 
tion of  the  young,  the  relief  to  the  poor,  and  the  revival  of 
religious  sensibility  in  the  community  at  large. 

From  the  close  of  the  Napoleonic  Wars  to  the  beginning 
of  the  Oxford  Movement,  the  revival  of  religious  orders 
in  England  has  been  seen  to  have  aroused  considerable  in- 
terest. There  was  much  opposition  to  celibacy,  vows, 
asceticism,  the  distinctively  monastic  elements.  But  the 
social  utility  of  modified  orders  had  gained  a  rather  wide 
recognition,  especially  among  the  High  Church  party.  Per- 
haps most  important  of  all  was  the  great  enthusiasm 
aroused  in  a  few  leaders,  particularly  Southey.  Some 
progress  is  evident,  when  a  man  of  his  influence  will  say, 
"It  is  not  speaking  too  strongly  to  assert  that  the  establish- 
ment of  Protestant  nunneries,  upon  a  wise  plan  and  liberal 
scale,  would  be  the  greatest  benefit  that  could  possibly  be 
conferred  upon  these  kingdoms.^  Not  only  did  he  desire 
them,  he  expected  them  within  thirty  years. ^  It  was  very 
fitting,  therefore,  that  the  first  Anglican  Sisterhood  should 
have  been  proposed  as  a  memorial  to  Robert  Southey  after 
his  death  in  1843. 

In  the  light  of  this  chapter,  no  longer  can  Pusey  be  called 

"^  Sir  Thomas  More:  or  Colloquies,  ii,  36. 
^Ibid.,  p.  330. 


PREPARATION  OF  ENGLISH  SOCIETY  59 

the  father  of  the  monastic  revival  in  the  English  Church. 
The  social  movements  of  the  first  thirty  years  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  prepared  the  soil ;  Pusey  and  the  Tractarians 
set  out  the  monastic  plant. 


CHAPTER  IV 

The   Development   of   the   Distinctively   Monastic 

Elements 

sec.  i.  the  growth  of  interest  in  celibacy 

The  monks  and  nuns  of  Henry  VIII's  time  would  not 
have  felt  at  home  in  the  institutions  which  Southey  desired. 
The  new  orders  were  to  be  purified  of  the  distinctively 
monastic  elements.  The  social  need,  which  alone  impelled 
Southey,  required  neither  vows  nor  asceticism.  These  how- 
ever were  to  come  in  through  the  religious  interest;  and  in 
the  important  revival  beginning  in  1833. 

The  way  for  this  religious  revival  had  been  prepared  by 
various  influences.  The  old  principles  of  Laud  and  the 
Caroline  Divines  had  never  entire^  died  out  even  in  the 
lethargy  of  the  eighteenth  century.^  The  Evangelical 
Movement  had  raised  the  public  standard  of  personal  piety. 
The  Napoleonic  Wars  and  subsequent  travel  had  reopened 
the  continent  to  Englishmen  and  given  them  a  view  of  con- 
tinental Christianity.  The  Romantic  writers  had  revived 
interest  in  the  religion  of  the  Middle  Ages.^  There  were 
other  antecedent  influences ;  but,  far  reaching  as  these  were, 
the  immediate  occasion  of  the  Oxford  Movement  must  be 
sought  in  the  political  as  well  as  in  the  religious  conditions 
of  the  times.  Many  signs  betokened  that  the  Church  was 
in  danger.     Roman  Catholic  emancipation  and  the  aboli- 

1  Smith,    Reminiscences   of   Forty    Years,   by   an   Hereditary   High 
Churchman  (London,  1868). 

2  Kempson,  in  Pax,  Dec,  1907,  p.  345 ;  cf.  Patterson,  A  History  of 
the  Church  of  England,  p.  404. 

60 


DEVELOPMENT  6 1 

tion  of  the  Test  Act  threw  the  legislature  open  to  non- 
churchmen;  and  the  Reform  Bill  put  in  power  the  indus- 
trial classes,  who  were  not  as  a  rule  friendly  to  the  Estab- 
lished Church.  The  Irish  Temporalities  Bill,  suppressing 
ten  bishoprics  and  two  archbishoprics  in  Ireland  without 
consulting  the  clergy,  showed  that  the  Church  was  hence- 
forth to  be  governed  by  Parliament.  This  led  on  July 
14,  1833  to  the  Rev.  John  Keble's  preaching  at  St.  Mary's, 
Oxford,  his  memorable  sermon  on  "The  National  Apos- 
tasy." Newman  in  after  years  says  of  it :  "I  have  ever 
considered  and  kept  the  day  as  the  start  of  the  Religious 
Movement  of  1833."  ^ 

The  so-called  Oxford  movement  was  designed  to  pro- 
claim to  the  world  that  the  Church  of  England  was  no 
Protestant  body  established  by  law  but  a  branch  of  the 
ancient  Catholic  Church.  Newman  became  convinced  that 
"antiquity  was  the  true  exponent  of  the  Doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity and  the  basis  of  the  Church  of  England."  ^ 

In  their  study  of  the  ancient  church,  the  Oxford  School 
examined  "the  whole  range  of  the  doctrine  and  discipline 
and  moral  and  religious  habits,  of  the  primitive  depositories 
of  faith ;  and  amongst  the  rest  the  question  of  the  esteem  in 
which  celibacy  was  held."  ^  They  could  hardly  have  failed 
to  become  interested  in  celibacy,  for  if  the  statement  of  one 
of  their  contemporaries  that  it  "stands  forward  as  the 
most  prominent  characteristic  of  ancient  Christianity,"  *  is 
too  sweeping,  at  least  Pusey  took  notice  that  it  was  a  primi- 
tive doctrine.^     This  interest,  however,  found  little  expres- 

1  Grey,  F.  W.,  in  American  Catholic  Quarterly,  xxxiv,  504. 

2  Newman,  Apologia  pro  vita  sua  (London,  1897),  p.  26. 

3  Beaven,  Doctrine  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  of  the  Primitive 
Church  on  the  Subject  of  Religious  Celibacy  (London,  1841),  p.  6. 

4  Taylor,  Ancient  Christianity  and  the  Doctrines  of  the  Oxford  Tracts 
(London,  1844),  i,  60. 

5  Pusey,  A  Letter  to  Richard,  Bishop  of  Oxford  (Oxford,  1839). 


62  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

sion.  In  1839,  Isaac  Taylor  said  the  Tractarians  had 
scrupulously  avoided  the  subject  of  celibacy/  He  attri- 
buted their  silence  to  fear.  "They  are  not  so  devoid  of 
worldly  discretion,  or  so  regardless  of  the  temper  of  the 
times  they  live  in,  as  not  to  have  felt  that,  to  protrude  the 
ancient  doctrine  concerning  the  merits  of  virginity,  at  so 
early  a  stage  of  their  proceedings  would  have  been  a  meas- 
ure that  must  have  proved  fatal  to  the  cause  they  are  pro- 
moting." ^  Whatever  the  Tractarians'  motive,  they  had  not 
made  any  official  pronouncement  on  the  subject  of  celibacy. 
"Nowhere  in  the  Tracts"  wrote  Pusey  to  the  Bishop  of  Ox- 
ford, "have  there  been  put  forth  any  recommendations 
whether  of  celibacy  in  general,  or  that  of  the  clergy  in  par- 
ticular. It  has  not  been  inculcated  nor  even  named  in  the 
Tracts ;  and  what  has  elsewhere  been  said  by  any  who  have 
written  in  the  Tracts,  has  been  dropped  incidentally;  there 
has  been  nothing  of  systematic  promotion  of  this  state. 
When  mentioned,  it  has  been  with  reference  to  specific 
cases."  ^ 

Pusey's  letter  indicates  that  some  admiration  for  celibacy 
already  existed  among  the  Oxford  leaders.  Investigation 
bears  this  out.  John  Henry  Newman,  tells  of  his  early  de- 
cision to  lead  the  single  life.  In  his  "Apologia"  he  writes: 
"I  am  obliged  to  mention  another  deep  imagination  which 
at  this  time,  the  autumn  of  181 6,  took  possession  of  me, 
viz.,  that  it  would  be  the  will  of  God  that  I  should  lead  a 
single  life.  This  anticipation,  which  has  held  its  ground  al- 
most continuously  ever  since — with  a  break  of  a  month 
now  and  a  month  then,  up  to  1829,  and  after  that  date, 
without  any  break  at  all — was  more  or  less  connected  in 

1  Taylor,  op.  cit.,  p.  60;  cf.  Wackerbarth,  The  Revival  of  Monastic 
Institutions  (Colchester,  1839).     Preface,  p.  x. 

2  Taylor,  op.  cit.,  p.  62. 

3  Pusey,  op.  cit.,  p.  140. 


DEVELOPMENT  5^ 

my  mind  with  the  notion,  that  my  calHng  in  life  would  re- 
quire such  a  sacrifice  as  celibacy  involved;  as  for  instance, 
missionary  work  among  the  heathen,  to  which  I  had  a  great 
drawing  for  some  years.  It  also  strengthened  my  feel- 
ing of  separation  from  the  visible  world,  of  which  I  have 
spoken  above."  ^  Two  facts  are  noticeable  in  Newman's 
statement.  First,  his  early  motive  was  largely  a  practical 
one;  second,  he  became  firmly  determined  in  his  idea  after 
1829. 

These  two  facts  involve  a  consideration  of  Newman's 
friend,  Richard  Hurrell  Froude.  It  is  probable  that  New- 
man's idea  of  celibacy  was  both  strengthened  and  spiritual- 
ized by  contact  with  Froude.^  The  latter  was  a  celibate 
on  religious  principles.  He  maintained  the  intrinsic  ex- 
cellence of  virginity  of  which  he  considered  the  Blessed 
Virgin  to  be  the  great  pattern.^  He  hated  the  Reformers; 
he  loved  the  Fathers.  "Acting  on  Froude's  advice,  New- 
man set  himself  to  study  the  Anglican  theologians  of  the 
seventeenth  century — Andrewes,  Laud  and  the  Caroline 
divines.  And  he  felt  his  early  devotion  to  the  Ancient 
Fathers  revive,  and  undertook  to  read  them  in  chronolog- 
ical order,"  *  The  pro-monastic  ideas  of  the  seventeenth 
century  clergy  have  been  noted ;  ^  their  ideas  on  celibacy  can 

^Apologia  (1897  ed.),  P-  7;  cf.  When  returning  from  his  father's 
funeral,  Oct.  6,  1824,  he  wrote  in  his  diary:  "When  I  die  shall  I  be 
followed  to  the  grave  by  my  children?  My  mother  said  the  other  day 
she  hoped  to  live  to  see  me  married ;  but  I  think  I  shall  die  within 
college  walls,  or  as  a  missionary  in  a  foreign  land."  Mozley,  Letten 
and  Correspondence  of  J.  H.  Newman,  i,  p.  91. 

2  Guiney,  Hurrell  Froude   (London,  1904),  pp.  66-67. 

3  Thureau-Dangin,  The  English  Catholic  Revival  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century,  ed.  by  Wilfrid  Wilberforce  (London,  1914),  2  vols.,  i,  35;  cf. 
Hutton,  Cardinal  Newman  (London,  1891),  p.  35. 

*  Thureau-Dangin,  op.  cit.,  p.  36. 
5  Chapter  i. 


64  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

easily  be  imagined/  Thus,  under  Froude's  influence, 
Newman's  practical  ideas  of  celibacy  found  a  spiritual  and 
theoretical  basis.  Froude  had  a  touch  of  mysticism.^  His 
forced  physical  inactivity  owing  to  ill  health  made  him  con- 
templative and  influenced  his  views  of  life.^  Newman  was 
a  man  of  a  tender  feeling  and  of  very  human  disposition. 
When  visiting  at  Dartington  in  183 1  he  enjoyed  the  com- 
pany of  merry  girls,  but  he  escaped.*  "Nothing  is  plainer 
than  that  the  arch-celibate  was  Froude  and  not  Newman; 
perhaps  it  would  be  quite  exact  to  say  that  the  idea,  in 
Froude  as  in  Pascal,  was  wholly  endemic,  and  in  Newman 
only  so  in  part."  ^  A  letter  of  Newman  to  Froude  shows 
the  former's  attitude  toward  vows,  and  indicates  that  the 

1  Jeremy  Taylor,  "Natural  virginity,  of  itself,  is  not  a  state  more 
acceptable  to  God ;  but  that  which  is  chosen  and  voluntary,  in  order  to 
the  conveniences  of  religion,  and  separated  from  wordly  incumbrances, 
is  therefore  better  than  the  married  life."  Quoted  from  "the  most 
popular  of  his  works"  in  British  Critic,  xxvi,  455-456  (Oct.,  1839). 

Bishop  Montague:  "I  know  no  doctrine  of  our  English  Church 
against  them  [Evangelical  Counsels].  I  do  believe  there  are  and  ever 
were  evangelical  counsels,  such  as  St.  Paul  mentioned  in  his  Consilium 
autem  do  [concerning  Virginity]  ;  such  as  our  Saviour  pointed  at  and 
directed  unto  in  his  Qtii  potest  caperc  capiat  [on  the  same  subject]"; 
from  Montague's  Appcllo  Cacsarcm.  A  Just  Appeal  from  Two  Unjust 
Informers,  p.  215.     Quoted  in  British  Critic,  xxxii,  362   (Oct.,   1842). 

Archbishop  Laud  wished  to  encourage  celibacy  through  his  appoint- 
ments, and  would  have  done  so,  had  the  times  allowed.  He  was  a  sin- 
gle man  himself.  From  Heylin,  Cyprianus  Anglicus;  or  the  history 
of  the  life  and  death  of  William  {Laud),  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
p.  224,  quoted  in  British  Critic,  xxxii,  362   (Oct.,  1842). 

Bishop  Andrewes  gave  thanks  for  the  virgin  life.  His  life  of  celi- 
bacy was  mentioned  in  his  epitaph.     British  Critic,  loc.  cit.,  p.  363. 

Archbishop  Bramhall  disapproved  of  perpetual  vows,  but  thought 
England  should  have  orders  like  the  "Canonesses  and  Biggins  on  the 
other  side  of  the  sea."    British  Critic,  ibid.,  p.  63. 

2  Guiney,  op.  cit.,  p.  121. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  122. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  67. 

5  Ibid.,  pp.  66-67. 


DEVELOPMENT  65 

latter  may  perhaps  have  suggested  them.  "I  have  thought 
vows  {e.  g.,  of  celibacy)  are  evidences  of  want  of  faith. 
Why  should  we  look  to  the  morrow  ?  It  will  be  given  us  to 
do  our  duty  as  the  day  comes ;  to  bind  duty  by  f  orestalment 
is  to  lay  up  manna  for  seven  days ;  it  will  corrupt  us."  ^  As 
fellows  of  the  same  college  and  fellow  travellers  their  ideas 
reacted  upon  each  other,  strengthening  both.^ 

Froude's  poor  health  and  early  death  in  1836  left  to  New- 
man the  promotion  of  their  ideas  of  celibacy.  This  he  did 
anonymously  in  the  British  Magaaine,  June,  1835.^  "It  is 
not  more  culpable,  in  the  nature  of  things,  for  a  given  indi- 
vidual to  take  a  vow  of  celibacy,  than  to  take  a  vow  of  mar- 
riage, though  of  course  it  is  as  sinful  in  a  father  to  force  a 
daughter  into  a  convent  as  it  is  to  force  her  to  a  marriage 
she  dislikes,  and  as  inexpedient  to  take  a  monastic  vow 
hastily,  as  to  marry  before  one  has  come  to  years  of  discre- 
tion." If  people  charge  him  with  Popery,  he  asks  them 
in  which  one  of  the  Articles  is  monasticism  condemned. 
Then  he  adds  a  scriptural  argument,  "I  beg  to  remind  them 
that  St.  Paul,  as  far  as  the  letter  of  his  epistle  goes,  does 
prefer  and  recommend  celibacy."  *  Newman  seems  to  have 
expressed  his  preference  for  celibacy  not  only  in  this  article 
but  in  his  attitude  toward  his  friends,  who  might  succumb 
to  the  wiles  of  love.  For  instance,  H.  W.  Wilberforce  was 
almost  afraid  to  tell  Newman  of  his  engagement.  He  wrote 
to  one  of  their  mutual  friends,  "Whether  Neander  (New- 

1  Mozley,  Letters  and  Correspondence  of  J.  H.  Newman  during  his 
Life  in  the  English  Church,  2  vols.   (London,  1891),  i,  220. 

-  Ibid.,  ii,  19-21.  When  a  man  married  his  fellowship  ipso  facto  be- 
came vacant.     (Thureau-Dangin,  op.  cit.,  i,  27.) 

3  Vol.  vii,  663.  That  he  wrote  this  article  is  admitted  in  his  letter 
to  Froude,  July,  1835;  Mozley,  op.  cit.,  ii,  112. 

*  It  is  significant  of  the  tenor  of  the  times  that  the  Editor  adds  to 
this  article :  "The  Editor  begs  to  remind  his  readers  that  he  is  not 
responsible  for  the  opinions  of  his  correspondents." 


66  THE  REVIVAL  OF  COkVENTUAL  LIFE 

man)  will  cut  me,  I  don't  know.  ...  It  is,  I  am  sure,  very 
foolish  of  Newman  on  mere  principles  of  calculation  if  he 
gives  up  all  his  friends  on  their  marriage."  ^ 

From  these  citations  it  is  seen  that  Taylor  was  not  en- 
tirely correct  when  he  said  that  the  Tractarians  had  scrupu- 
lously avoided  expressing  themselves  on  the  subject  of  celi- 
bacy.^ Froude  in  his  Remains  had  been  shown  to  desire 
colleges  of  celibate  priests  in  the  large  cities,^  as  shall  be 
seen  later,  and  Newman  in  the  British  Magazine  had  advo- 
cated the  single  life,  but  without  signing  his  name.  Hence 
Pusey  could  say  that  their  references  to  celibacy  were 
"dropped  incidentally."  *  In  fact  it  might  be  more  exact  to 
say  they  were  dropped  cautiously.^  Whether  it  was  due  to 
fear  of  public  opposition  or  uncertainty  of  attitude  on  the 
part  of  the  Tractarians  themselves  it  is  difficult  to  say. 

In  1839  this  comparative  silence  was  broken.  The  gen- 
eral interest  in  celibacy  seems  to  have  been  growing  for 
some  time.*^  But  it  now  was  brought  into  the  limelight  by 
Isaac  Taylor's  Ancient  Christianity  and  the  Doctrines  of 
the  Oxford  Tracts.  This  extensive  and  popular  ^  book 
threw  a  bomb  into  the  Tractarian  camp.     It  made  celibacy 

^  Letter  of  H.  W.  Wilberforce  to  F.  Rogers,  Esq.,  Jan.,  1834,  in  Moz- 
ley,  Letters  and  Correspondence,  ii,  20-21.  In  this  case  he  did  not  "cut" 
Wilberforce  and  subsequently  became  godfather  to  his  first-born  son. 

^Ancient  Christianity,  i,  60. 

*  Froude,  Remains  (ed.  by  J.  H.  Newman  and  John  Keble),  2  pts. 
(London,  1838-1839),  i,  222. 

*  Letter  to  Bishop  of  Oxford,  p.  140. 

^  Cf.  British  Critic,  xxvi,  456   (Oct.,  1839). 

^  The  British  Critic,  xxvi,  454  (Oct.,  1839),  reviewing  MacDonough's 
Life  of  Nicholas  Ferrar,  tells  of  its  popularity,  requiring  a  second  edi- 
tion, and  says :  "It  is  a  good  sign  of  a  love  for  what  is  good  and  holy, 
and  above  our  age,  that  there  should  be  a  demand  for  such  a  work. 
...  It  indicated  on  the  face  of  it  that  the  single  state  given  to  devo- 
tion was  the  higher  line  to  choose." 

7  It  reached  the  fourth  edition  by  1844.  Cf.  British  Magazine,  xvi,  648 
(1839)  ;  also  cf.  Beaven,  p.  28.  ' 


DEVELOPMENT  67 

the  test  of  reliability  of  the  early  church/  If  this  was  the 
"most  prominent  characteristic"  ^  of  primitive  Christianity, 
and  the  Oxford  School  based  their  arguments  on  the  tenets 
of  the  early  church,  then  an  attack  on  celibacy  was  a  vital 
matter  to  them.  At  first  they  tried  to  ignore  the  book,  but 
its  popularity  was  too  great.  ^  Hence  they  made  a  counter- 
attack. Their  three  lines  of  argument  are  interesting.  The 
British  Critic,  the  avowed  organ  of  the  Tractarians,  at- 
tacked Ancient  Christianity  for  its  false  assumptions  of  im- 
morality in  the  early  church.  It  did  not  deny  the  existence 
of  celibacy,  but  it  maintained  that  Taylor  had  deduced  his 
charges  of  immorality  from  patristic  warnings  rather  than 
from  records  of  actual  occurrences.^ 

A  second  line  of  refutation  was  taken  by  the  British  Mag- 
azine. It  denied  the  prominence  of  celibacy  and  the  exist- 
ence of  real  monasticism  in  the  early  church.^  "It  so  hap- 
pens that  the  early  fathers  are  very  sparing  in  their  allusions 
to  celibacy,  ...  So  few,  indeed,  are  their  allusions,  that  a 
dozen  lines  would  contain  almost  all  that  is  to  be  found  on 
the  subject  in  the  genuine  works  of  the  earliest  six 
fathers."  *  The  Epistles  of  Cyprian  show  that  there  were 
no  distinct  societies  of  celibates.'^     The  Magazine  refutes 

1  One  of  his  propositions  to  be  proved  was :  "That  the  notions  and 
practices  connected  with  the  doctrine  of  the  superlative  merit  of  re- 
ligious ceHbacy,  were  at  once  the  causes  and  the  effects  of  errors  in 
theology,  of  perverted  moral  sentiments,  of  superstitious  usages,  of 
hierarchical  usurpations ;  and  that  they  furnish  us  with  a  criterion  for 
estimating  the  general  value  of  Ancient  Christianity ;  and,  in  a  word, 
afford  reason  enough  for  regarding,  if  not  with  jealousy,  at  least  with 
extreme  caution,  any  attempt  to  induce  the  modern  church  to  imitate 
the  ancient  church."     (1844  ed.,  i,  p.  65.) 

2  Ibid.,  i,  60. 

^British  Magazine,  xvi,  648  (1839). 

*  British  Critic,  xxvi,  440  et  seq.  (Oct.,  1839). 

^British  Magazine,  xvii,  190,  419,  and  516  (1840). 

8  Ibid.,  p.  419. 

7  Ibid.,  p.  64. 


68  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

Taylor's  assertions  as  to  Tertullian,  saying  that  Tertullian 
advocated  no  vow  of  celibacy,  in  his  "Ad  Uxorem."  ^  Tay- 
lor's error  is  that  he  has  quoted  from  spurious  works  of  the 
Fathers.  Hence  the  real  tenets  of  the  early  church  are  not 
affected  by  his  charges.^ 

A  third  and  most  significant  line  of  defence  was  that 
taken  by  Pusey  and  others.  These  writers  admitted  the 
celibacy  of  the  early  church  and  defended  it  as  a  higher 
state.  Pusey  can  not  read  certain  passages  of  the  Bible 
without  acknowledging  that  while  marriage  is  honorable, 
there  is  a  still  more  excellent  way  for  "those  to  whom  it 
is  given."  ^  While  Rome  has  tried  in  vain  to  conform  all 
her  clergy  to  the  celibate  standard,  Pusey  thinks  the  An- 
glican Church  should  not  be  equally  narrow  by  trying 
to  force  a  mediocre  standard  on  all  by  requiring  marriage. 
This  forced  mediocrity  drives  some  into  the  Roman  Church,* 
Not  only  is  the  single  life  spiritually  higher;  it  is  more 
efficient,  especially  in  the  great  cities.^  Also  orders  of 
celibate  women,  like  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  are  better  than 
the  desultory  visiting  societies.*^ 

Newman's  attitude  was  quite  similar  to  Pusey's.  He 
charges  Taylor  with  gross  misrepresentation;  but  says  the 

^Ibid.,  p.  391. 

2  The  attention  given  to  this  book  is  shown  by  the  large  amount  of 
space  it  receives  in  the  British  Magazine. 

^Letter  to  Richard,  Bishop  of  Oxford,  p.  141  (1839).  This  is  cor- 
roborated in  Pusey's  opinion  by  the  Anglican  Marriage  Service.  It 
"goes  further  and  in  the  midst  of  its  touching  commendation  of  the 
'honorable  estate'  of  matrimony,  implies  a  holy  celibacy  to  be,  for  those 
to  w^hom  it  is  given,  a  higher  state.  For  in  that  it  speaks  of  conti- 
nency  as  a  'gift,'  it  must  imply  that  it  is  an  especial  favor  of  God  to 
those  to  whom  it  is  given."  From  a  Letter  to  Dr.  Jelf,  quoted  in  Vaux, 
"Clerical  Celibacy,"  in  Shipley,  The  Church  and  the  World  (London, 
1866),  pp.  129-130. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  144. 

5  Ibid.,  p.  144. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  145. 


DEVELOPMENT  69 

real  hitch  is  that  the  clergy  do  not  want  celibacy.  Hence 
they  support  Taylor,  while  the  laity,  who  think  clerical 
celibacy  would  be  a  blessing,  do  not  take  to  him/  That 
Newman  stood  with  the  supposed  position  of  the  laity  in 
praising  celibacy  is  clear  in  his  Lives  of  the  Saints  as 
well  as  in  his  earliest  letters,  which  we  have  seen,^  For 
instance,  in  his  Life  of  St.  Wilfrid,^  he  writes :  "And 
there  is  yet  another  more  excellent  way  of  advancing  the 
Catholic  cause,  which  the  young  would  do  well  to  look 
to  who  require  some  field  for  their  zeal.  What  poetry 
more  sweet,  and  yet  withal  more  awfully  real — indeed 
hourly  realized  by  the  sensible  cuttings  of  the  very  cross — 
than  the  pursuit  of  Holy  Virginity."  *  What  Newman  had 
before  confided  to  a  few  intimate  friends,  he  now  after 
1839,  declared  in  the  open.  The  Scriptural  argument  was 
used  by  various  other  Tractarian  writers  and  sympathizers 
in  their  defence  of  celibacy  as  a  higher  state.^ 

1  Letter  to  J.  W.  Bowden,  Esq.,  Jan.  5,  1840 :  "It  is  curious  to  find 
fliat  the  lawyers  and  laity  do  not  take  to  Mr.  Taylor,  but  the  clergy 
do.  For  why?  Because  the  doctrine  of  celibacy  touches  the  latter. 
Put  aside  Mr.  T's  gross  misrepresentation ;  this  is  the  real  hitch  at  bot- 
tom. .  .  .  Not  Mr.  Taylor,  but  Dr.  Wiseman,  seems  taking  the  law- 
yers ;  so  I  hear."  Mozley,  Letters  and  Correspondence  of  J.  H.  New- 
man, ii,  294-295. 

2  Cf.  supra,  p.  65. 

3  Pp.  205-208. 

^Quoted  in  Crosthwaite,  Modern  Hagiology,  2  vols.  (London,  1846), 
i,  PP-  95-96. 

5  The  British  Critic,  xxx,  315  (Oct.,  1841),  bases  its  position  on 
Christ's  words  in  Matt.  19:12  and  on  St.  Paul.  Cf.  xxxiv,  515  (Oct., 
1843).  Oakley  (in  his  Meditation  on  the  Marriage  at  Cana,  pp.  103- 
107)  says :  "By  his  calling  John  from  it,  He  gave  us  clearly  to  under- 
stand that  the  spiritual  marriage  of  the  soul  with  Him  in  a  single  life 
is  far  more  perfect  (than  the  married  life  of  earth)";  quoted  in  Cros- 
thwaite, i,  279. 

Beaven  {op.  cit.,  pp.  32  et  seq.)  relies  on  Matt.  19:10-12  for  Christ's 
tribute  to  celibacy  and  on  I  Cor.  7,  in  which  Paul  says  that  celibacy 
offers  fewer  hindrances  to  piety. 


70  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

This  third  position  on  celibacy  may  be  called  the  char- 
acteristic one  of  the  Tractarians  who  survived  after  the 
development  of  1839  and  1840.^  A  number  had  felt  for 
some  time  that  celibacy  was  a  higher  state,  as  has  been 
shown.  Now  they  openly  maintained  it  on  the  basis  of 
Scripture. 

Many  other  arguments  beside  the  Scriptural  were 
brought  to  its  defence.  Single  persons  are  less  entangled 
with  the  affairs  of  this  life  than  are  the  married.  They 
can,  therefore,  give  themselves  more  completely  to  works 
of  charity  and  self-denial.^  Such  unselfish  and  devoted 
work  is  needed  especially  in  reclaiming  the  great  cities, 
where  the  married  parochial  clergy  are  overwhelmed.^ 
There  is  difficulty  in  finding  clergy  for  the  out-stations 
where  great  zeal  is  required  and  poor  pay  is  given.  Celi- 
bate priests  could  go  out  to  these  as  did  St.  Paul.*  The 
church  must  put  forth  redoubled  efforts  to  regain  what 
was  lost  by  the  supineness  of  the  past  generation.^  This 
is  possible  only  through  the  labors  of  single,  self-sacrificing 
clergy.  The  materialistic  age  would  be  turned  to  higher 
things  by  "the  very  presence  of  a  class  of  Christians,  who 
show  in  their  whole   lives   and   demeanor   that   they   are 

Faber,  in  Lights  and  Thoughts  in  Foreign  Churches  and  Among  For- 
eign Peoples  (London,  1842),  p.  125,  puts  the  Scriptural  argument 
first. 

Bennet,  in  Apostasy — A  Sermon  (London,  1847),  p.  6,  says:  "Holy 
Orders  is  the  taking  up  of  our  individual  marriage ;  and  setting  it  aside 
as  if  nothing,  then  raising  up  before  our  view  that  chaste  and  holy 
spouse,  which  the  Lord  Jesus  sent  forth  himself  to  work  His  mercies 
for  lost  men." 

^  Cf.  Palmer,  A  Narrative  of  Events  Connected  with  the  Publication 
of  the  Tracts  for  the  Times  (Oxford,  1843),  p.  5. 

^British  Critic,  xxvi,  456  (Oct.,  1839). 

3  British  Critic,  xxvi,  456-457. 

*  Beaven,  op.  cit.,  p.  53. 

5  Ibid.,  p.  53. 


DEVELOPMENT  71 

dead  to  secular  cares  and  pleasures  and  that  their  hearts 
and  affections  are  absorbed  in  Heavenly  realities ;  men  who 
live  a  mortified  life,  a  life  above  the  world;  who  choose 
poverty  and  vow  celibacy,  and  refuse  wealth  and  distinc- 
tion when  offered."  ^ 

All  these  reasons  and  others,  for  clerical  celibacy  are 
given  by  Frederic  W.  Faber  in  his  Lights  and  Thoughts.^ 
In  fact,  he  gives  nineteen  arguments.  He  himself  assumes 
to  defend  the  married  clergy  of  England  and  puts  the 
arguments  for  celibacy  in  the  mouth  of  the  "Man  from  the 
Middle  Ages."  It  requires,  only  a  little  knowledge  of 
Faber,  however,  to  see  that  this  is  only  a  literary  ruse,  and 
that  he  is  really  writing  an  apologetic  for  the  extreme 
Tractarian  position  on  celibacy.  Some  of  his  arguments 
overlap.  Hence  they  can  be  considerably  condensed. 
Those  not  already  given  by  others  are  in  substance:  (i) 
Celibacy  enables  one  to  show  his  natural  affection  for  chil- 
dren toward  humanity  at  large.  (2)  If  God  has  kept  a 
man  pure  in  school  and  college,  does  not  that  see  ma  provi- 
dential sign  that  he  should  remain  single?  (3)  If  a  per- 
son's love  has  been  crossed,  that  is  a  hint  of  providence 
that  he  should  never  marry.  (4)  Celibacy  gives  one  the 
means  of  making  a  great  venture  for  Christ's  sake.  (5)  It 
affords  to  a  priest  ways  in  which  meek  hearts  may  attain 
to  a  stronger  feeling  of  communion  with  the  rest  of  West- 
ern Christendom.^  (6)  Celibacy  is  a  special  cure  for  cer- 
tain defects  of  character,  as  for  instance,  the  desire  for 
soft  living.  (7)  It  may  remedy  defects  of  character  by 
being  an  atonement  for  past  sin. 

The  effect  of  all  this  defence  of  celibacy  by  the  Oxford 

1  Ward,  The  Ideal  of  a  Christian  Church   (2nd  ed.,  London,  1844), 
p.  413;  cf.  British  Critic,  xxxiv,  52-53  (July,  1843). 

2  P.  123. 

3  This  is  rather  significant  in  view  of  Faber's  later  union  with  Rome. 


72  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

School  is  perhaps  best  indicated  in  the  words  of  a  con- 
temporary : 

The  Reformation  had  left  the  question  of  clerical  marriage  to 
the  consciousness  of  the  individual,  but  the  words  of  the 
Ordinal  and  the  overwhelming  preponderance  of  public  opin- 
ion implied  its  general  desirability.  Of  late  years  two  influ- 
ences have  conspired  to  modify  this  view.  The  first  is  the 
heightened  conception  of  the  mystery  of  the  priesthood,  em- 
phasized by  the  first  Tractarians,  which  has  once  more  raised 
the  idea  of  clerical  celibacy  to  a  position  of  spiritual  attrac- 
tiveness. The  other  is  the  fact  that,  owing  to  the  pressure  of 
poverty  at  home  and  demands  of  mission  work  abroad,  the 
marriage  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  clergy  has  become 
practically  impossible.^ 

The  Tractarians  had  revived  the  ideas  of  celibacy  held 
by  the  seventeenth  century  theologians.^  Those  earlier 
divines  succeeded  in  bringing  forth  only  a  few  sporadic 
attempts,  like  Ferrar's,  because  of  the  hostile  spirit  of  their 
times.  How  were  the  celibate  ideas  of  Pusey,  Newman 
and  their  followers  to  be  received?  Taylor  had  accused 
these  leaders  of  keeping  silence  through  fear  ^  of  the  gen- 
eral opposition,  for  he  said,  "There  are,  I  presume,  very 
few  Protestants  or  any  clergyman  of  the  Protestant  church, 
who  would  profess  to  think  the  monkish  institution  ab- 
stractedly good,  and  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy  a  wise  and 
useful  provision."  *     That  there  is  some  ground  for  the 

^  Cruttwell,  Six  Lectures  vtt  the  Oxford  Movement  (London,  1899), 
P-  133- 

2  "A  numerous  and  powerful  party  has  arisen  even  in  the  bosom  of 
the  Church  of  England  itself,  whose  object  seems  to  be  to  revive  the  at- 
tempts made  by  Archbishop  Laud  and  his  followers  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  to  assimilate  the  discipline,  if  not  the  doctrine,  of  the 
Church  of  England  with  that  of  the  Church  of  Rome."  The  Church- 
man, 1843,  p.  764. 

^Ancient  Christianity,  i,  62. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  123. 


DEVELOPMENT  y^ 

charge  that  the  Tractarians  had  been  cautiously  waiting 
to  avow  their  position  on  ceHbacy  is  shown  by  their  organ, 
the  British  Critic}  "Expectations  have  been  entertained 
of  the  effect  of  the  first  open  avowal  of  opinion  on  the 
subject  of  celibacy  on  the  part  of  those  said  to  be  favor- 
able." ^  The  extreme  High  Churchman  thus  seemed  to  stand 
pretty  much  alone  in  their  admiration  for  celibacy.  How- 
ever voluntary  celibacy,  without  vows,  was  regarded  by 
the  moderates  as  possible  in  the  Church  of  England.^  The 
dislike  of  it  before  the  Oxford  Movement,  even  by  those 
who,  like  Southey,  desired  reformed  monastic  orders,  has 
been  seen,  and  after  the  Movement  had  been  extending  its 
influence  for  more  than  twenty  years.  Bishop  Harold 
Brown,  writing  on  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  boldly  says, 
"With  us  marriage  is  ever  esteemed  the  more  honorable 
estate."  *  Although  the  advocates  of  celibacy  were  thus 
few,  their  enthusiasm  was  growing  during  the  next  few 
years  following  1839.  It  was  destined  to  produce  far 
more  lasting  institutions  of  celibacy  than  the  agitation  of 
the  seventeenth  century.  The  glorification  of  a  celibate 
ministry  led  to  the  idea  that  virginity  was  a  more  honor- 
able state  than  matrimony  and  thus  contributed  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  strictly  "religious"  orders. 

SEC.    II.    THE    EFFECT   OF    THE    OXFORD    MOVEMENT    ON    THE 
INTEREST   IN   MONASTICISM 

Considerable  space  has  been  given  to  the  development 
of  ideas  of  celibacy  not  only  because  it  is  the  chief  ally 
of  monasticism  but  because  its  advocates  in  this  case  con- 

1 XXVI,  456  (Oct.,  1839). 

2  Ibid.,  p.  456.  Cf.  Beaven,  op.  cit.,  p.  7 ;  cf.  Edinburgh  Review,  xlii, 
16  (Apr.,  1825). 

^English  Review,  x,  72,  74  and  60  (1848). 

*  Browne,  Bishop  of  Ely,  Exposition  of  the  Thirty-Nine  Articles 
(London,  1856),  p.  757. 


74 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


nected  it  with  the  revival  of  monastic  orders.  Taylor  at- 
tacked the  monks  of  the  ancient  church  as  well  as  the  celi- 
bates in  general.  He  regarded  the  one  as  dangerous  as 
the  other.  Some  of  his  opponents,  however,  admit  the 
existence  of  celibacy  in  the  primitive  church  but  deny  the 
presence  of  real  monks  and  nuns.^  To  the  Tractarian  mind 
the  desideratum  was  the  formation  of  communities  of 
celibate  priests. 

When  did  this  desire  first  arouse  interest  in  the  nine- 
teenth century?  Mr.  Bennett,  one  of  the  Oxford  School, 
said  of  the  revival  of  monasteries:  "Previous  to  1833 
there  was  not  an  idea  of  such  a  thing  as  possible  except 
in  connection  with  the  Church  of  Rome."  ^  On  the  other 
hand  a  member  of  an  Anglican  monastic  community 
now  alive,  speaking  of  the  same  thing,  said,  "In  many 
ways  it  would  be  true  to  state  that  the  Evangelical  move- 
ment gave  the  spirit,  and  the  Catholic  movement  the  form, 
for  this  revival."  ^  Which  view  is  correct?  As  has  been 
shown,  the  monastic  idea  had  never  perished  in  England 
until  chilled  to  death  by  the  eighteenth  century,*  though 
since  the  French  Revolution,  the  English  soil  had  been 
prepared  for  its  revival.^  The  personal  piety,  developed 
by  the  Evangelical  Movement,  fretted  under  the  adverse 
conditions  of  church  and  society.  The  Evangelicals  saw 
the  need  of  something,  while  Southey  and  the  High 
Churchmen  of  the  third  decade  of  the  century  had  diag- 
nosed that  need  and  offered  as  a  remedy  reformed  con- 
ventual orders,  especially  of  women.  But  for  the  old 
orders,  with  all  their  monastic  elements,  there  was  neither 

^British  Magazine,  xvii,  190  (1840). 

2  Bennett,  Some  Results  of  the  Tractarian  Movement  of  1833  (Lon- 
don, 1867),  p.  20. 

3  Frere,  English  Church  Ways  (Milwaukee,  1914),  p.  82. 
*  Chap.  i. 

5  Chaps,  ii  and  iii. 


DEVELOPMENT 


75 


desire  nor  expectation.  Both  writers  here  quoted  have, 
therefore,  approximated  the  truth. 

And  yet  in  1839  an  advocate  of  revived  monasteries  said 
that  he  could  find  only  three  brief  statements  in  favor  of 
them  in  recent  years.^  One  of  these  was  by  Sharon  Turner 
in  his  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons.^  A  second  was 
a  letter  in  the  British  Magazine  some  two  years  before,^ 
which  "was  coldly  received."  And  lately  he  had  heard 
that  Froude  had  treated  it  in  his  Remains.  Taylor  in 
the  same  year  bears  witness  to  the  comparative  silence.* 
For  six  years,  therefore,  the  Tractarians  had  not  pushed 
the  issue  of  monasticism;  but  the  question  had  been  in 
their  minds. 

Just  as  the  theory  of  celibacy  found  its  chief  promoter 
in  Froude,  so  does  monasticism  go  back  to  the  same  source. 
In  his  letter  to  Newman,  August  31,  1833,  he  wrote,  "It 
has  lately  come  into  my  head  that  the  present  state  of  things 
in  England  makes  an  opening  for  reviving  the  monastic 
system.  I  think  of  putting  the  view  forward  under  the 
title  of  A  Project  for  Reviving  Religion  in  Great  Towns. 
Certainly  colleges  of  unmarried  priests  (who  might  of 
course  retire  to  a  living  when  they  could  and  liked)  would 
be  the  cheapest  possible  way  of  providing  effectively  for 
the  spiritual  wants  of  a  large  population.  ...  I  must  go 
about  the  country  to  look  for  the  stray  sheep  of  the  true 
fold;  there  are  many  about,  I  am  sure;  only  that  odious 
Protestantism  sticks  in  people's  gizzards."  ^ 

Whether  Newman  was  influenced  by  Froude  in  his  mo- 
nastic ideas  as  in  his  attitude  toward  celibacy,  it  is  difficult 

^  Wackerbarth,  Revival  of  Monastic  Institutions,  preface,  p.  x. 

2  Vol.  iii,  p.  491 ;  cf.  supra. 

3  Probably  Newman's,  1835-1836. 
*  Ancient  Christianity,  i,  60. 

s  Guiney,  Hurrcll  Froude,  p.  122.     Cf.  Froude,  Remains,  i,  322. 


76  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

to  say.  In  his  earlier  expressions  on  the  single  life,  he 
did  not  mention  the  need  of  monastic  orders.  But  in 
1835  he  was  as  strong  for  them  as  was  Froude.  His  ar- 
ticle in  the  British  Magazine  was  the  first  public  utterance 
of  the  Tractarians  in  behalf  of  a  monastic  revival.^  He  ad- 
mitted the  corruption  of  monasticism,  but  it  was  "a  corrup- 
tion of  what  is  in  itself  good."  The  monastic  life  he  re- 
garded "as  holding  a  real  place  in  the  dispensation  of  the 
gospel,  at  least  providentially."  ^  The  religious  temper  of 
the  times  is  against  monasticism,  but  in  this  it  is  "not  like 
that  of  the  primitive  church."  ^  Apart  from  the  Scriptural 
basis,  there  were  in  Newman's  mind  three  chief  reasons 
for  reviving  monasteries.  These  were:  (i)  The  main- 
tenance of  truth,  as  in  the  primitive  time;  (2)  The  pro- 
tection against  the  "Socinianizing  of  our  hierarchy,"  which 
seemed  threatened;  and  (3)  The  checking  of  schism  by 
giving  an  outlet  for  devotional  spirits.* 

After  Newman  had  published  this  first  article,  he  be- 
gan to  wonder  if  he  had  not  gone  too  far.  In  July,  1835, 
he  wrote  to  Froude : 

I  have  at  present  some  misgivings  whether  I  have  not  been  too 
bold  in  the  June  Magazine  on  the  subject  of  Monasticism.  .  .  . 
I  doubt  whether  I  am  not  burdening  my  well-wishers  with  too 
heavy  a  load  when  I  oblige  them  to  take  up  and  defend  these 
opinions,  too.  You  see  the  ground  taken,  as  far  as  I  am  con- 
cerned, by  our  fautores  in  many  quarters,  is  that  of  my  not 
being  a  party  man  or  peculiar  in  any  sense.  Now  some  one 
has  told  me  that  in  defending  Monasticism,  I  have  become  pe- 
culiar. I  can  but  throw  myself  in  answer  upon  the  General 
Church,  and  avow  (as  I  do)  that  if  any  one  will  show  me  any 
opinion  of  mine  which  the  Primitive  Church  condemned,   I 

1  VII,  662  et  seq.  (June,  1835). 

2  Ibid.,  p.  663. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  662. 

*  Ibid.,  pp.  663-664. 


DEVELOPMENT 


77 


will  renounce  it;  any  which  it  did  not  insist  on,  I  will  not 
insist  on  it.  Yet,  after  all,  I  am  anxious  about  it,  and  shall 
draw  in  my  horns.^ 

Froude,  as  one  might  expect,  was  not  so  timid.  He 
saw  no  cause  for  worry.  He  replies :  "As  to  your  Mo- 
nasticism  articles  in  the  British  Magazine,  my  father  read 
the  offensive  part  in  the  June  one  and  could  see  nothing  in 
it  that  any  reasonable  person  could  object  to;  and  some 
persons  I  know  have  been  struck  by  them."  ^ 

The  desire  of  Froude  and  Newman  was  shared  by  Pusey. 
This  new  ally,  who  was  to  be  so  active  in  the  monastic  revi- 
val, was  a  married  man  himself.  The  practical  value  of  re- 
ligious communities  seemed  to  strike  him  before  the  theo- 
retical or  spiritual  argument  for  the  monastic  life.  On  July 
19,  1838,  Pusey  wrote  to  Newman :  "I  hope  Wood,  etc.,  are 
not  aground  with  their  plan  for  colleges  of  twelve  clergy  in 
our  large  towns."  ^  That  these  were  to  be  celibate  priests 
in  Pusey's  opinion,  is  shown  in  another  letter  to  Newman. 
"The  more  I  think  of  Froude's  plan,  the  more  it  seems  to 
me  the  only  one  if  anything  is  to  be  done  for  our  large 
towns.  I  had  come  to  the  same  conclusion  for  missionaries 
that  they  ought  not  to  be  married  men."  ^  The  short  life 
of  Froude  seems  an  unimportant  incident  in  the  religious 
or  social  history  of  England;  but  in  the  history  of  the 
monastic  revival  it  is  then  seen  to  be  almost  epoch- 
making. 

Before  1839  the  opinions  of  these  three  men  on  monastic- 
ism  were  apparently  not  shared  very  generally.  Newman's 
article  in  the  British  Magazine  admitted  that  the  temper  of 

1  Mozley,  Letters  and  Correspondence  of  J.  H.  Newman,  ii,  112. 

2  Guiney,  p.  182. 

3  Liddon,  Life  of  Pusey,  4  vols.  (London,  1893-1898),  ii,  37. 

■^  Ibid.,  p.  37;  cf.  "Letter  of  Newman  to  Keble,"  Nov.  21,  1838,  in 
Mozley,  Letters  and  Correspondence  of  J.  H.  Newman,  ii,  268. 


^8  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

the  times  was  against  it/  and  his  letter  to  Froude  reveals 
some  opposition  by  his  own  colleagues."  A  year  later  the 
British  Magazine  speaks  of  "the  horror  with  which  every- 
thing like  monastic  institutions  has  been  looked  upon  in  this 
country  since  the  time  of  the  dissolution."  ^  The  Magazine 
adds:  "It  is  true  that,  amid  the  universal  clamor,  a  single 
voice  has  been  heard  at  intervals  attempting  to  show  that 
such  foundations  were  not  an  unmixed  evil  .  .  .  ;  but  there 
is  another  view  of  such  establishments  which  the  boldest 
apologists  of  the  monastic  system  seem  hardly  ever  to  have 
entertained ;  and  that  is,  the  desirableness  and  practicability 
of  their  restoration,  to  a  limited  extent,  and  in  a  modified 
form,  as  an  appendage  to  the  Church  of  England."  But 
much  as  this  Tractarian  writer  ^  desires  the  revival  of  the 
monasteries,  he  does  not  hope  for  more  than  the  vision  of 
their  rise  "till  loss  of  property  turns  the  thoughts  of  the 
clergy  and  others  from  this  world  to  the  next."  ^  Another 
obstacle  was  the  popular  prejudice  that  monasticism  is  a 
characteristic  of  Roman  Catholicism.  The  people  believe 
this  because  "our  generation  has  not  yet  learned  the  distinc- 
tion between  Popery  and  Catholicism."  ® 

In  the  agitation  for  monasticism  proper,  as  well  as  for 
celibacy,  the  year  1839  is  a  turning-point.  What  had  been 
more  or  less  secret  and  anonymous  before,  now  became  open 
and  avowed.  To  Taylor,  with  his  Ancient  Christianity, 
it  seems  should  be  ascribed  the  credit  for  raising  celibacy 
to  a  public  issue.  He  had  also  an  important  effect  on  the 
discussion  of  monasticism  for  he  treated  these  subjects  to- 

1  VII,  662  (June,  183s)  ;  cf.  Wackerbarth,  op.  cit.,  preface,  p.  x. 
2C/.  supra,  p.  76;  cf.  "Letter  of  Hugh  James  Rose,  Jan.,  1838,"  in 
Guiney,  Hurrell  Froude. 
3X,  310  et  seq.   (1836). 
*  Probably  Newman, 
s  British  Magazine,  ix,  367. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  369. 


DEVELOPMENT  yg 

gather.  But  to  his  name  should  be  added  another.  In  the 
same  year  there  appeared  a  book  by  Francis  D.  Wacker- 
barth,  an  Anglican  curate.  Boldly  did  it  declare  its  aim  in 
its  title,  The  Revival  of  Monastic  Institutions}  Appar- 
ently this  work  did  not  attract  as  wide  attention  as  Ancient 
Christianity.  Its  effect  therefore  on  others  is  uncertain; 
the  fact  of  its  publication  and  the  definiteness  of  its  argu- 
ment, however,  are  significant. 

The  first  plea  which  he  makes  for  the  revival  of  monas- 
teries is  that  they  will  serve  to  check  the  civil  power  and  to 
make  the  church  more  commensurate  with  the  nation.  In 
this  he  has  the  typical  Tractarian  fear  of  the  governmental 
domination  over  the  church.  The  causes  for  that  fear  he 
sees  in  "the  apostate,  infidel  and  blaspheming  cabinet,  a 
population  mad  for  organic  change,  a  popish  and  infidel  ma- 
jority in  the  Commons,  a  corrupted,  profligate  and  worth- 
less literature,  rampant  fury  and  shameless  demand  for  un- 
limited plunder  on  the  part  of  the  sectaries,  and  a  rebellious 
association  spreading  over  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
land,  and  apparently  in  a  very  close  connection  with  the 
government."  ^  With  such  dangers  to  face,  the  Church  is 
generally  felt  to  need  something  more  adequate  and  aggres- 
sive than  the  parochial  system.^  That  more  effective  agency 
is  to  be  found  in  the  monastic  orders. 

A  second  need  of  their  revival,  as  he  sees  it,  is  to  check 
schism  and  heresy.  The  number  of  schismatics  is  appall- 
ing.*    They  are  the  support  of  the  irreligious  government. 

1  The  Revival  of  Monastic  Institutions,  and  their  hearing  upon  soci- 
ety, considered  with  reference  to  the  present  condition  of  the  Anglican 
Church  (Colchester,  1839).  For  information  concerning  Wackerbarth 
cf.  Catholic  Encyclopedia,  vi,  423.  He  entered  the  Roman  Church  in 
1841. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  6-7. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  6. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  10. 


8o  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

Aided  by  the  Tridentine  sectaries,  they  command  all  the 
measures  of  the  Melbourne  Cabinet,  which  is  on  the  verge 
of  bankruptcy  and  needs  the  church  property.^  Some  of 
these  who  leave  the  Anglican  communion  are  attracted  by 
the  seeming  piety  of  other  sects.  "Is  it  not  undeniable  that 
many  more  devotional  spirits  separate  from  our  Communion 
and  that  of  the  Dissenters  to  enter  such  retreats  (i.  e.  monas- 
teries), even  though  belonging  to  the  Tridentine  sectaries? 
Does  not  even  common  prudence  teach  us  that  some  effort 
is  necessary  to  counteract  the  working  of  the  Romish  monas- 
teries ?  ^  Therefore  the  Anglican  Church  must  provide 
some  vent  for  the  devotion  of  such  individuals.  This 
would  be  done  by  the  establishment  of  Anglican  monastic 
institutions  which  would  give  quiet  communion,  study  and 
piety.^ 

The  third  argument  which  Wackerbarth  gives  is  the  same 
as  that  of  Froude  and  Pusey,  viz.  monastic  orders  would 
help  to  evangelize  the  great  cities.  Dissent  flourishes  best 
in  large  towns  for  three  reasons.  First,  money  is  more 
available  there  to  support  the  Dissenters'  work.  Second, 
the  priests  of  the  Anglican  Church  are  overburdened  by  the 
numbers.  In  some  parishes,  as  for  instance  that  of  Bethnal 
Green,  there  are  30,000  to  70,000  people  under  one  man. 
Third,  the  inhabitants  are  vitiated  by  that  imperfect  kind 
of  semi-education,  which  keeps  them  from  knowing  their 
own  ignorance.*  This  difficult  problem  of  the  cities  can  not 
be  solved  by  the  church  in  its  present  state.  "The  merciless 
plundering  of  the  church  which  formed  the  principal  feature 
and  mainspring  of  the  Reformation,  left  her  in  possession 
of  what  the  most  brazen  Protestantism  will  hardly  dare  to 
call  more  than  barely  sufficient  for  the  exigencies  of  that 

^Ibid.,  p.  II.  ^ Ibid.,  pp.  14-15. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  15.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  16. 


DEVELOPMENT  gl 

time."  ^  Hence  now  it  is  wholly  outgrown  by  the  popula- 
tion. One  remedy  often  proposed  is  to  divide  the  parishes. 
But  the  livings  are  too  small  to  be  divided."  That  colleges 
of  unmarried  priests  would  be  of  incalculable  help,  by  their 
economy  of  living,  in  checking  the  evils  of  the  cities  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  Cathedral  towns  are  better  than 
others.^ 

A  fourth  and  very  practical  argument  for  monasteries  is 
that  they  would  be  a  boon  to  general  education.  The  prin- 
cipal defect  of  modern  education  is  in  the  religious  and 
moral  department.^  Schools  conducted  by  monastic  clergy 
of  high  learning  would  have  religion  for  their  primary  ob- 
ject.^ In  Wackerbarth's  mind  the  Catholic  faith  must  be 
the  background  for  education.*^.  Monastic  colleges  could 
support  themselves  by  charging  a  moderate  tuition.'^  How 
powerful  and  efficient  they  could  become  can  be  seen  from  a 
study  of  Stonyhurst  College.®  Its  progress  and  growth 
have  been  remarkable  even  under  the  austerity  and  evils  of 
the  Romish  system.  The  dangers  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
system  are  due  to  the  Pope's  exemption  of  certain  abbeys 
from  episcopal  jurisdiction.^     This  would  be  avoided  in  the 

'^Ibid.,  p.  17. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  19. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  21. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  26.    This  chapter  would  be  of  interest  to  the  present  advo- 
cates of  religious  education. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  35. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  24. 
''Ibid.,  p.  34. 

8  P.  27.  The  reference  to  Stonyhurst  College  confirms  the  thesis 
of  Chap,  ii  that  the  return  of  the  Roman  Catholics  to  England  during 
and  after  the  French  Revolution  had  a  bearing  on  the  Anglican  mo- 
nastic revival.  Significant  also  is  it  that  Wackerbarth  takes  his  ac- 
count of  Stonyhurst  from  the  Tractarian  organ,  The  British  Critic,  xxv, 
159-162. 

9  Ibid.,  p.  25. 


82  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

Anglican  scheme,  for  the  bishop's  decision  over  the  monas- 
teries would  be  final/ 

The  fifth  reason  which  the  writer  gives  is  practical  and 
somewhat  similar  to  the  one  preceding.  Monasteries  would 
be  depositories  of  ecclesiastical  learning  and  the  means  of 
consolidating  the  teaching  efforts  of  the  clergy.  The  High 
Churchism  of  the  author  is  shown  when  he  says  that  the 
chief  function  of  the  Church  is  not  to  lead  men  into  the 
paths  of  virtue  and  religion,  nor  the  dissemination  of  re- 
ligious knowledge,  but  the  preservation  of  the  sacred  body 
of  divine  truth."  At  present  this  is  not  being  done.  The 
parochial  clergy  have  little  time  for  study  and  theology.^ 
In  seeking  popularity  they  often  forget  authority  and  there- 
fore lead  to  schism.*  Of  this  there  is  little  hope  of  check 
by  the  bishops  for  they  are  appointed  by  the  Government 
and  therefore  divided.^  The  remedy  lies  in  the  revival  of 
monasteries  and  the  multiplication  of  cathedral  bodies. 
These  would  moderate,  control,  and  unite  the  parochial 
ministry.  They  would  have  a  beneficial  effect  on  their 
taste  and  thinking  by  affording  the  parochial  clergy  places 
for  retreat  and  study.^ 

Wackerbarth  mentions  other  lesser  advantages  of  monas- 
teries, such  as  their  beneficial  effect  on  church  music  by  their 
choral  services.^  But  he  shows  his  fundamental  interest 
throughout  to  be  the  checking  of  the  civil  power.  For  this 
it  is  necessary  that  the  clergy  should  be  better  known  and 
loved.  Monasteries  would  contribute  to  this  in  the  poorer 
districts  by  giving  the  clergy  more  time  to  know  their 
people ;  and  in  the  richer  sections,  by  their  influence  on  learn- 
ing and  the  mingling  of  the  clergy  in  society.^     Having 

1  Ibid.,  p.  24.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  42. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  36.  ®  Ibid.,  pp.  42-43- 

3  Ibid.,  p.  39.  ■^  Ibid.,  p.  52. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  41.  8  Ibid.,  p.  47. 


DEVELOPMENT 


83 


thus  won  the  people,  the  Church  might  obtain  a  permanent 
influence  on  both  Houses  of  ParHament,  revive  convoca- 
tions and  put  a  partial  stop  to  the  continual  system  of 
plundering  church  possessions/ 

The  exact  relation  of  Wackerbarth  to  the  Tractarians  is 
not  known.  His  preface  indicates  that  he  had  little  ac- 
quaintance with  them,"  but  his  fear  of  the  government  and 
his  desire  to  check  it  are  seen  to  be  identical  with  theirs. 
Thus  this  comparatively  obscure  writer  voiced  openly  and 
specifically  that  which  they  had  discussed  more  or  less  in 
private.  From  this  time  on,  the  subject  of  monastic  re- 
vival becomes  an  open  one.  It  should  be  noted  that  this 
outspoken  advocate  of  the  religious  life  does  not  stand  for 
irrevocable  vows.  "I  do  not  mean,"  he  says,  "that  they 
(the  monks)  should  be  bound  by  any  indissoluble  vow  of 
celibacy,  but  simply  that  as  long  as  they  continued  in  the 
society  they  should  remain  single,"  ^  It  should  also  be  ob- 
served that  his  arguments  are  practically  all  utilitarian  in 
nature.  Now  that  the  ice  is  broken  in  this  rather  safe 
manner,  it  will  be  interesting  to  watch  the  development  in 
argument  and  theory  concerning  monasteries. 

SEC.  III.    THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MONASTIC  IDEALS       1 839-45 

It  was  natural  that  the  argument  of  practical  utility 
should  be  the  first  one  stressed  by  the  advocates  of  monastic 
orders.  Such  a  plea  is  always  good  to  catch  the  public 
ear.  Especially  appropriate  was  it  at  this  time  for  the 
Church  conditions  were  arousing  considerable  attention. 
The  Churchman  in  1840,  reviewing  a  speech  on  "How  are 
the  spiritual  wants  of  our  overgrown  and  ever  increasing 

1  Ihid.,  p.  47. 

2  P.   X. 

^  Ihid.,  p.  20. 


84  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

population  to  be  supplied?"  ^  characterized  it  as  an  eloquent 
address  on  one  of  the  most  important  themes  of  the  time. 
It  gives  us  great  pleasure  to  observe  the  deep  interest  which 
this  subject  is  exciting  in  all  parts  of  the  country."  ^  It 
was  seen  that  the  church  had  not  kept  pace  with  the  grow- 
ing and  changing  population.  More  and  better  disciplined 
clergy  were  needed.^  There  was  no  depreciation  of  the 
parochial  system;  "but  to  it  in  large  overgrown  towns,  we 
would  add  a  Monastic  Institute."  *  As  early  as  1839  the 
British  Critic  said :  "We  envy  the  lot  of  him  who  may 
have  boldness  to  make  trial  of  associating  a  number  of 
young  men  as  a  collegiate  body,  for  the  cheaper  supply  of 
an  efficient  ministry  to  operate  on  these  dense  and  dark 
masses  of  sin  and  ignorance,  to  live  with  him,  not  tied  by 
vows,  but  purposing  in  their  hearts  by  God's  grace,  not  to 
entangle  themselves  in  the  affairs  of  this  life,  that  they  may 
the  more  devote  themselves  to  this  great  work."  ^ 

Of  the  utilitarian  arguments  this  one  of  social  service 
seems  to  have  been  the  chief.     Great  pains  were  taken  to 

"^Speech  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Page  (London,  Seeley). 

-  P.  102.  Further  evidences  of  this  interest  are  seen  in :  Report  of 
the  Speeches  delivered  at  a  Public  meeting  of  the  friends  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church.  Extracted  from  the  Newcastle  lournal,  Feb.  22,  1834 
(Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  1834). 

Molesworth,  Letter  to  Lord  Bishop  of  Chester  (London,  1841). 

The  Monastic  and  Manufacturing  Systems,  by  Anglo-Catholicus 
(London,  1843). 

Letters  to  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Westminster,  by  a  Parishioner 

(1843). 

The  Real  Causes  of  Papal  Aggression   (London,  1851). 

Hook,  Letter  to  the  Lord  Bishop  of  St.  David's  (London,  1846). 

Sumner,  A  Charge  to  the  Clergy  of  Winchester  (London,  1850). 

Sand  ford.  The  Mission  and  Extension  of  the  Church  at  Home  (Lon- 
don, 1862). 

^  Real  Causes  of  Papal  Aggression,  p.  9. 

*  The  Monastic  and  Manufacturing  Systems,  p.  5. 

^British  Critic,  xxvi,  457  (Oct.,  1839). 


DEVELOPMENT 


85 


show  that  the  monastic  life  is  not  destructive  and  unsocial, 
but  practical  and  constructive/  Its  hospitals,  orphanages 
and  schools  were  cited.  Monasticism  gives  definite  specific 
objects  of  charitable  activity."  The  nuns  are  not  more  se- 
cluded than  other  single  women ;  ^  and  instead  of  the  re- 
ligious life's  making  women  idle,  it  gives  them  dignity  and 
usefulness.*  To  the  value  of  the  active  life  the  monastic 
system  adds  the  great  principle  of  association  which  has 
been  so  effective  in  the  Christian  church.^  The  dire  need 
of  some  remedy  for  the  spiritual  destitution  of  the  manu- 
facturing population  is  shown  by  "the  practical  protest  of 
Chartism,  Infidelity,  Dissent  and  Socialism."  "  It  was  a 
strong  argument  for  monasteries  that  they  would  help  to 
restore  the  unbelieving  masses  of  the  city  to  the  bosom  of 
the  Church. 

Other  arguments  of  practical  utility  were  cited.  Pusey 
thought  monks  would  be  valuable  collators  of  manuscripts, 
as  in  S.  Jerome's  time.^  The  poor  clergy,  who  individually 
can  not  afford  libraries,  would  have  access  to  good  ones  in 
the  very  houses  they  inhabit.^  The  study  of  ecclesiastical 
law,  which  is  greatly  needed,  would  be  encouraged.^  The 
monastic  choral  services,  of  which  Wackerbarth,  had  spoken 
were  again  praised. ^°     In  short,  it  was  the  active  practical 

^  Ibid.,  xxxi,  397-398  (Apr.,  1842). 

2  Ibid.,  p.  399. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  396. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  398 ;  cf.  The  Monastic  and  Manufacturing  Systems,  pp.  27 
et  seq. 

5  Ibid.,  pp.  372-373- 

^  The  Monastic  and  Manufacturing  Systems,  p.  3.  Cf.  Faulkner, 
Chartism  and  the  Churches  (New  York,  1916). 

■''  Letter  of  Pusey  to  J.  R.  Hope-Scott,  June  13,  1841,  in  Ormsby, 
Memoirs  of  J.  R.  Hope-Scott,  2  vols.  (London,  1884),  i,  264. 

^  The  Monastic  and  Manufacturing  Systems,  p.  9. 

^British  Critic,  xxxiii,  406  (April,  1843). 

10  Ibid.,  p.  395. 


86  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

side  of  the  religious  life  which  was  first  emphasized,  and 
very  wisely  so. 

But  into  this  view  of  the  social  value  of  monasteries, 
there  was  creeping  the  ascetic  element.  The  British  Critic 
conceived  of  monasticism  as  produced  by  a  concurrence  of 
the  principles  of  aggregation  and  asceticism.  The  first 
goes  back  to  apostolic  times.  Therefore  monasticism  is 
apostolical  in  its  essence.^  W.  G.  Ward,  one  of  the  most 
advanced  of  the  High  Churchmen,  started  with  the  social 
need  of  remedying  the  conditions  of  the  poor,  but  found 
the  model  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  It  is  the 
Spiritual  Exercises  of  Ignatius  Loyola  which  in  Ward's 
opinion  forms  the  basis  and  furnishes  the  required  self- 
discipline.^  In  him  we  find  the  mingling  of  the  social  and 
the  ascetic  elements.  Ward  also  advanced  to  the  point  of 
advocating  vows  of  celibacy.^  He  did  not  stand  alone  in 
modelling  his  scheme  after  the  Roman  Catholic  orders. 
If  any  one  has  thought  that  the  return  of  the  Romanist 
monasteries  had  no  effect  on  the  Anglican  revival,  let  him 
read  the  words  of  another  advocate.  "In  the  heart  of  Eng- 
land, amidst  the  din  of  manufacture,  in  the  very  head- 
quarters of  Chartism,  within  sight  of  democratic  Lough- 
borough, are  the  gentle  Cistercians  of  Mount  Mellorie  do- 
ing much  to  reclaim  the  savage  hearts  of  men,  from  the 
Infidelity,  the  Socialism,  the  Chartism,  into  which  the  in- 

1 XXXIII,  390  (Apr.,  1844);  cf.  Taylor,  Ancient  Christianity.  This 
does  not  mean,  however,  that  the  religious  life  necessarily  involves 
irrevocable  vows  and  perpetual  celibacy,  "which  are  matters  extrinsic 
and  purely  accidental  to  the  subject  whereof  we  are  treating,  and 
which  would  be  required  to  be  treated  of  at  greater  length."  British 
Critic,  xxxiii,  390  (Apr.,  1843). 

2  Ward,  The  Ideal  of  a  Christian  Church,  2nd  ed.  (London,  1844), 
p.  80  et  seq. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  413- 


DEVELOPMENT 


87 


efficiency  of  our  parochial  system  had,  if  not  plunged,  at 
least  suffered  them  to  fall/ 

That  the  advocates  of  monasticism  were  tending  more 
and  more  toward  Romish  practices  is  quite  clear.  William 
Palmer,  one  of  the  prime  movers  of  the  Oxford  Move- 
ment,^ wrote  in  1843  that  the  authors  of  the  Tracts  had 
been  opposed  to  the  Roman  customs,  but  that  "within  the 
last  two  or  three  years,  however,  a  new  school  has  made 
its  appearance."  ^  "Invocation  of  saints  is  sanctioned  in 
some  quarters;  .  .  .  celibacy  of  the  clergy  and  auricular 
confession  are  acknowledged  to  be  obligatory.  Besides 
this,  intimacies  are  formed  with  Romanists,  and  visits  are 
paid  to  Romish  monasteries,  colleges  and  houses  of  wor- 
ship." *  Of  this  new  school  the  British  Critic  was  the  chief 
organ.  ^ 

This  magazine,  as  has  been  seen,  emphasized  the  social 
value  of  the  active  monastic  orders;  but  it  did  not  conceal 
its  admiration  for  the  contemplative  life.  "Let  this  be  well 
considered;  let  it  be  observed  whether  those  who  are  so 
loud  in  their  protests  on  the  uselessness  of  a  life  of  seclu- 
sion, believe  in  any  true  sense  the  efficacy  of  intercessory 
prayer.  .  .  .  Have  there  ever  been  times  of  zealous  self- 
devotion  in  the  cause  of  benevolence  and  humanity  which 
have  not  been  also  times  of  retirement  and  contemplation."  ^ 
It  believes  the  contemplative  Catholic  has  done  more  for 
charity  than  the  active  Protestant.  This  is  shown  in  the 
Sisters    of    Charity,    for    instance.^     The    danger    to    the 

^  The  Monastic  and  Manufacturing  Systems,  p.  26. 

2  Overton,  The  Anglican  Revival  (London,  1897),  p.  1I2. 

3  Palmer,  A  Narrative  of  Events,  p.  52. 
^Ihid.,  p.  53. 

^Ihid.,  p.  55. 

^British  Critic,  xxx,  317  (Oct.,  1841). 

7  Ibid., 


88  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

Church  at  present  is  not  so  much  from  coldness  as  from  ill- 
directed  warmth.  The  Church  is  awake  but  it  is  feared 
that  many  of  her  best  children  are  driven  into  extravagance 
and  even  into  schism  because  their  religious  warmth  is  un- 
controlled.^ Such  enthusiasts  need  a  school  of  Christian 
penitence  and  that  is  furnished  by  the  contemplative  life  of 
the  monasteries.^  It  adds :  "Of  what  use  are  the  con- 
templative orders?  If  persons  understood  well  the  mean- 
ing of  the  Communion  of  Saints,  they  would  not  make 
the  inquiry.  The  weapons  of  the  Church  are  fasts  and 
prayers;  but  the  world  has  encroached  upon  her.  ...  It 
is  well  then  that  some  should  pray  while  others  are  fight- 
ing." ^  The  Critic  recognizes  that  the  majority  of  Eng- 
lishmen are  opposed  to  the  contemplative  life.*  There- 
fore "until  it  shall  please  God  to  enable  the  Church  to 
make  use  of  this  great  engine  we  must  all  wait  in  patience, 
and  keep  fast  and  festival  at  home.  In  the  meantime  it 
may  be  useful  to  point  out  the  virtues  of  the  monastic  state, 
for  they  are  in  reality  those  of  all  Christians,  carried  to 
a  very  high  degree."  ^  Consequently  the  writer  proceeds 
to  extol  the  virtues  of  the  Abbess  of  Port  Royal  and  her 
nuns,  who  observed  strict  vows  and  were  very  ascetic.  All 
these  characteristics  were  praised.*'  Thus  the  extreme 
High  Churchmen,  represented  by  the  British  Critic  ^  have 

1  Ibid.,  p.  367. 

"^  Ibid.,  xxxi,  400-401    (1842). 

^  Ibid.,  p.  367;  cf.  xxxiv,  39  (July,  1843). 

'^  Ibid.,  p.  316. 

5  Ibid.,  p.  368. 

^  Would  not  the  following  definition  sound  appropriate  in  a  Roman 
Catholic  publication :  "A  monastery  is  a  light  set  upon  a  hill,  ever 
burning  to  remind  Christians  that  they  are  not  to  be  merely  honest 
and  quiet  members  of  society,  but  that  they  are  called  upon  to  live  a 
supernatural  life,  with  bodies  mortified  and  souls  ever  turned  to 
praise"  (British  Critic,  xxx,  367)  ? 

^  Thomas   Mozley  had   succeeded   Newman   as   editor   in    1841.     His 


DEVELOPMENT  89 

advanced  to  the  purely  Roman  monasticism.  How  far 
they  are  beyond  Southey!  How  far  beyond  even  Froude, 
who  wanted  no  irrevocable  vows !  Palmer  attributed  their 
Romish  position  to  their  "doctrine  of  development,"  which 
makes  all  mediaeval  Christianity  necessary.^  This  doctrine, 
he  thought,  was  derived  from  de  Maistre  and  Mohler." 

The  position  of  this  extreme  wing  is  interesting,  but 
there  were  two  men  whose  attitudes  are  of  more  impor- 
tance. These  men  were  Newman  and  Pusey.  Upon  their 
leadership  depended  the  fruition  of  the  schemes.  Palmer, 
one  of  Newman's  colleagues  said  that  the  British  Critic 
had  made  its  dangerous  advances  toward  Romish  practices 
since  passing  from  Newman's  editorship  in  1841.^  What 
then  was  Newman's  position?  The  reasons  which  New- 
man gave  for  desiring  some  sort  of  monastic  institutions 
in  the  Anglican  Church  have  been  shown.^  The  question 
now  is,  what  sort  of  institutions  he  desired.  A  letter  back 
in  1839  shows  that  he  was  already  looking  at  Roman  in- 
stitutions favorably,  apparently  from  an  aesthetic  view- 
point. *T  think,"  he  said,  "that  whenever  the  time  comes 
that  secession  to  Rome  takes  place,  for  which  we  must  not 
be  unprepared,  we  must  boldly  say  to  the  Protestant  sec- 
tion of  our  church — 'you  are  the  cause  of  this;  you  must 
concede;  .  .  .  you  must  make  the  church  ,  .  .  more  equal 
to  the  external.  Give  us  more  services,  more  vestments 
and  decorations  in  worship;  give  us  monasteries.  .  .  .  Till 

chief  writers  were  Ward,  Oakeley,  Rogers,  John  Christie,  James  Moz- 
ley,  Bawyer,  Church,  J.  B.  Morris,  and  others.    Mozley,  Reminiscences 
chiefly  of  Oriel  College  and  the  Oxford  Movement.    2nd  ed.  (1882),  ii, 
217-219. 
^  Palmer,  A  Narrative  of  Events,  p.  68. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  57.  Note  the  connection  with  the  Continental  Catholic 
movements. 

3  Palmer,  A  Narrative  of  Events,  p.  75. 

*  Vide  supra,  p.  76.     Cf.  British  Magazine,  vii,  662  et  seq. 


90 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


then  you  will  have  continual  secessions  to  Rome.'  "  ^  He 
seemed  constantly  looking  at  Rome  and  trying  to  devise 
means  of  keeping  men  from  that  communion.  The  only 
remedy  he  could  believe  effective  was  to  copy  their  institu- 
tions, as  e.g.  monasteries,  which  I  used  to  say  belonged  to 
us  as  much  as  to  Rome,^  "I  am  almost  in  despair  of  keep- 
ing men  together,"  he  wrote  in  1842.  "The  only  possible 
way  is  a  monastery.  Men  want  an  outlet  for  their  devo- 
tional and  penitential  feelings,  and  if  we  do  not  grant  it, 
to  a  dead  certainty  they  will  go  where  they  can  find  it."  ^ 
In  a  later  chapter  it  will  be  seen  that  Newman  set  up  a 
"monastery"  at  Littlemore,  which  may  seem  very  unlike 
the  Roman  institutions.  That  this,  however,  did  not 
represent  the  perfected  idea  of  Newman  but  only  the  foun- 
dation is  shown  by  this  same  letter:  "Yet  the  clamor  is 
so  great  and  will  be  so  much  greater,  that,  if  I  persist,  I 
expect  (though  I  am  not  speaking  from  anything  that  has 
occurred)  that  I  shall  be  stopped.  Not  that  I  have  any 
intention  of  doing  more  at  present  than  laying  the  founda- 
tion of  what  may  be."  *  The  praise  which  is  bestowed  upon 
the  old  monastic  orders  in  the  Lives  of  the  Saints 
strengthens  the  theory  that  Newman  desired  the  mediaeval 
kind.^ 

In  1838  Pusey  had  confided  to  Newman  his  desire  for 

1  Purcell,  Life  of  Cardinal  Manning,  2  vols.   (London,  1895),  i,  233. 

^Apologia  pro  sua  Vita  (ed.  1897),  P-  166. 

3  Letter  to  J.  R.  Hope-Scott,  Jan.  3,  1842,  in  Ormsby,  Memoirs  of 
J.  R.  Hope-Scott,  ii,  6. 

*Ibid. 

*>  "Monastic  Orders  are  the  very  life's  blood  of  a  Church,  monuments 
of  true  apostolic  Christianity,  refuges  of  spirituality  in  the  worst  times, 
the  nurseries  of  heroic  bishops,  the  mothers  of  rough-handed  and 
great-hearted  missionaries.  A  church  without  monasteries  is  a  body 
with  its  right  arm  paralyzed."  Life  of  S.  Wilfrid,  pp.  62-63 ;  quoted  in 
the  British  Magazine,  Jan.,  1845,  P-  12.  Cf.  Letter  of  Newman  to  J.  R. 
Hope-Scott,  Nov.  6,  1843,  Ormsby,  op.  cit.,  ii,  27. 


DEVELOPMENT  gi 

colleges  of  celibate  priests  in  the  large  cities.  In  those 
earlier  days  he  seemed  to  have  been  a  more  or  less  theo- 
retical follower  of  Newman  and  Froude  in  this  matter. 
Even  in  1840  he  still  looked  to  Newman  as  the  leader.  In 
reply  to  a  letter  from  the  latter,  he  said :  "Certainly  it 
would  be  a  great  relief  to  have  a  'fiovrj'  in  our  Church  in 
many  ways,  and  you  seem  just  the  person  to  form  one.  .  .  . 
I  hardly  look  to  be  able  to  avail  myself  of  the  'iiovq  since 
I  must  be  so  busy  when  here  on  account  of  my  necessary 
absences  to  see  my  children,  unless  indeed  I  should  live 
long  enough  to  be  ejected  from  my  Canonry,  as  of  course, 
one  must  contemplate  as  likely  if  one  does  live,  and  then 
it  would  be  happy  retreat."  ^  After  his  wife's  death  in 
1839,  Pusey  gave  more  thought  to  the  subject  of  monas- 
teries.^ His  position  in  1841  he  declared  quite  explicitly: 
"As  to  monasticism  I  do  not  go  further  than  Archbishop 
Leighton,  in  what  he  says  about  'Retreats  for  men  of 
mortified  tempers,'  which  he  regrets  were  lost  at  the  Refor- 
mation. I  have  long  strongly  thought  that  we  needed 
something  of  this  sort;  it  is  not  Romanish,  but  primitive — 
B.  Harrison,  as  well  as  others,  think  co-eval  with  Chris- 
tianity; all  minds  are  not  formed  in  the  same  way  nor 
need  the  same  course  of  training.  I  think  it  would  be  a 
great  blessing  to  our  Church  to  have  some  such  institu- 
tions, but  this  is  no  new  view  with  me.  .  .  .  My  visits  to 
the  convents  at  Dublin  have  not  changed  my  views,  except 
so  far  that  I  should  not  think  now  of  any  formal  institu- 
tion, but  wish  people  quietly  to  form  themselves."  ^ 

How  Pusey  went  about  the  process  of  having  people 
"quietly  form  themselves"  into  the  religious  life  will  be 
seen  in  the  next  chapter.     But  in  the  meantime  it  is  inter- 

1  Liddon,  Life  of  Pusey,  ii,  137. 

2  Cf.  infra. 

3  Liddon,  op.  cit.,  ii,  271. 


92 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


esting  to  note  his  progress  toward  Romish  customs  and 
asceticism.  This  progress  is  shown  in  the  following  letter : 
"I  have  two  or  three  commissions  for  you.  ...  It  is  for 
my  little  library  of  Roman  Catholic  works.  .  .  .  The  gen- 
eral class  is,  as  you  know  ascetic  books,  books  of  guidance, 
which  shall  give  people  knowledge  of  self,  enable  us  to 
guide  consciences.  ...  I  should  be  glad  of  any  informa- 
tion on  a  subject  which  I  know  drew  your  thoughts  when 
you  were  last  abroad — the  system  as  to  retreats.  .  .  . 
Perhaps  also  Dr.  Dollinger  could  give  you  some  informa- 
tion as  to  S.  Ignatius  Loyola's  Exercitia  S piritualia."  ^ 
Pusey  also  desired  to  know  about  the  Roman  forms  of 
penance  and  their  use  of  the  "Discipline,"  an  instrument 
of  "five  cords  each  with  five  knots  in  memory  of  the 
wounds  of  our  Lord."  ^  He  writes  to  Keble  two  years 
later  that  he  is  resuming  "Hair  Cloth"  and  is  anxious  to 
use  the  "Discipline"  every  night  with  Psalm  51.^  Pusey's 
approximation  to  Roman  Catholicism  in  his  ideas  of  devo- 
tion and  practices  is  seen  also  from  the  titles  of  his  Catholic 
Devotional  Library.*" 

The  British  Critic,  Newman  and  Pusey  may  be  said  to 
represent  fairly  the  advanced  Tractarianism  of  this  period. 
Hence  it  is  seen  that  this  party  desired  the  revival  of 
monasteries  very  similar  to,  if  not  identical  with,  the  old 
Roman  institutions.  But  they  recognized  that  the  way  was 
not  yet  open.  This  need  of  patient  preparation  is 
voiced  by  John  Mason  Neale,  a  name  to  be  heard  frequently 
in  later  days.     "Lest  such  an  intention  should  appear  pre- 

1  Letter  of  Pusey  to  J.  R.  Hope-Scott,  Sept.  9,  1844.     Ormsby,  op. 
cit.,  ii,  51. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  52-53. 

3  Liddon,  op.  cit.,  iii,  99-108.     Keble  advised  moderation  in   Pusey's 
ascetic  habits. 

*  Browne,  Annals  of  the  Tractarian  Movement  (Dublin,  1856),  3rd  ed. 
1861,  p.  64. 


DEVELOPMENT  q3 

sumptuous,  Mr.  Neale  expressly  lays  down  as  a  sort  of 
necessary  condition  before  anything  is  done,  that  the  gen- 
eral feelings  of  churchmen  and  the  approbation  of  our 
ecclesiastical  rulers  shall  have  prepared  the  way  for  it."  ^ 
How  difficult  that  preparation  will  be  remains  now  to  be 
seen.^ 

SEC.  IV.    THE  GENERAL  INTEREST  OF  OTHER  PARTIES  IN  THE 
MONASTIC  REVIVAL 

The  British  Critic,  the  organ  of  the  advanced  Tractarians, 
was  succeeded  in  1844  by  the  English  Review.  The  tone 
of  the  new  paper  on  the  subject  of  monasteries  was  de- 
cidedly different.  It  admits  that  England  is  more  familiar 
with  the  corruption  of  these  institutions  than  with  their 
excellence.^  Therefore  it  does  not  recommend  their  re- 
vival.^ However,  it  sees  the  social  and  religious  needs 
which  should  be  met  and  praises  the  educational  work  of 
the  "Brothers  of  Christian  Doctrine"  in  Paris.^  It  be- 
lieves an  effort  should  be  made  to  accomplish  similar  ob- 
jects in  a  manner  different  from  the  purely  monastic  and 
thus  check  the  flood  of  the  most  ardent  spirits  to  Rome. 
One  effective  means,  as  recommended  by  Wm.  Sewell  ®  and 
approved  by  the  Review,  would  be  an  association  of  self- 
sacrificing  men  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  bishop  for  the 

^British  Critic,  xxxiv,  523  (Oct.,  1843). 

2  In  addition  to  the  arguments  used,  as  cited  above,  the  advocates  of 
monasticism  sought  to  break  down  the  English  prejudice  against  an 
institution  so  Roman  in  appearance  by  appealing  to  the  authority  of 
the  seventeenth  century  divines  and  antiquaries.  Latimer,  Bramhall, 
Thorndike,  Tanner,  Leighton,  Fuller,  Twysden,  Spelman,  Dugdale  and 
Camden  were  all  cited.  Cf.  British  Critic,  xxxii,  363  et  seq.  (Oct., 
1842),  and  Anglo-Catholicus,  The  Monastic  and  Manufacturing  Sys- 
tems, p.  13  et  seq. 

^English  Review,  i,  413-414. 

4C/.  ii,  445  (Dec,  1844). 

5  Ibid. 

^  Christian  Politics  (London,  1844). 


94 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


purpose  of  teaching  the  poor.  They  should  have  simple 
rules  and  dress  and  live  in  community  life,  but  should  not 
be  a  monastic  order.  Monasticism,  Sewell  said,  was  guilty 
of  sins  which  in  such  a  system  find  no  place,  as  for  instance 
withdrawal  from  episcopal  control,  abstract  retirement, 
fanatical  devotion,  self-sacrifice  become  pride,  selfish  ac- 
cumulation of  wealth,  political  power,  attachment  to  foreign 
influence,  and  enslavement  by  vows.^  The  English  Review 
comments :  "We  are  sure  that  every  enlightened  church- 
man would  hail  the  institution  of  societies  such  as  Mr. 
Sewell  describes,  purified  from  the  various  evils  of  the 
monastic  system;  but  it  is  evident  that  under  existing  cir- 
cumstances, they  will  not  be  very  easily  called  into  exis- 
tence." ' 

In  attempting  to  get  the  social  effects  without  the  mo- 
nastic orders,  this  magazine  makes  a  distinction  between 
monasticism  and  the  conventual  system.  The  essence  of 
the  former  is  not  celibacy,  nor  poverty,  nor  obedience,  but 
according  to  St.  Jerome  it  is  solitude.^  Therefore  monas- 
ticism is  not  consistent  with  social  work.*  Its  intention 
was  frustrated  by  the  conventual  system  and  it  is,  there- 
fore, self-destructive.^  But  the  practical  objects  to  be  at- 
tained by  monasteries,  which  are  the  education  of  the  poor, 
distribution  of  alms,  conversion  of  paganized  millions,  of- 
fering of  asylums  to  learning,  religion,  widowhood  and 
virginity,  can  be  met  by  the  apostolic  orders  of  deacons 
and  deaconesses.^  These  have  been  revived  in  Bavaria  and 
among  French  Protestants/ 

^Ibid,  pp.  395-396. 

2ii,  77  (Oct.,  1844). 

3ii,  429  (Dec,  1844). 

*  Ibid.,  p.  432. 

5  Ibid.,  p.  434. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  448-449. 

''  Ibid.,  p.  450. 


DEVELOPMENT  g^ 

This  attitude  of  recognizing  needs  and  offering  semi- 
monastic  remedies  was  held  in  other  quarters.^  More  open 
expression,  however,  was  given  in  opposition  to  the  whole 
monastic  principle.^  The  general  opinion  o£  these  oppo- 
nents was  that  monasteries  by  their  very  nature  tended  to 
corruption.  How  widespread  was  the  opposition  to,  or 
the  support  of,  the  monastic  idea,  it  is  difficult  to  say.  A 
friend  of  the  monasteries  gives  a  glimpse.     "Among  the 

i£.  g.,  "F.  K."  in  British  Magazine,  xi,  163-165   (1837). 

"G.  H.  T."  in  the  Guardian,  i,  569  (Nov.  18,  1846),  proposed  a  soci- 
ety of  religious  persons  called  the  "Fraternity  of  Holy  Learning"  or 
(like  the  similar  French  institution)  the  "Brethren  of  Christian 
Schools."  There  should  be  a  solemn  promise  of  devotion  and  obedi- 
ence while  within  the  pale,  but  no  vows  of  perpetual  celibacy.  "Celi- 
bacy might  be  one  of  the  requirements.  Without  this  it  is  difficult  to 
conceive  an  entire  submission  or  a  perfect  state  of  discipline."  The 
superiors  should  be  the  bishops,  and  the  brothers,  in  part  priests  but 
chiefly  deacons. 

Dr.  Thomas  Arnold  in  Christian  Life,  Its  Course,  Its  Hindrances,  and 
Its  Helps  (London,  1845),  Introduction,  p.  56,  said:  "No  wise  man 
doubts  that  the  Reformation  was  imperfect,  or  that  in  the  Romish 
system  there  were  many  good  institutions  and  practices  and  feelings 
which  it  would  be  most  desirable  to  restore  among  ourselves.  Daily 
church  services,  frequent  communions ;  .  .  .  religious  orders,  espe- 
cially of  women,  of  different  kinds  and  under  different  rules,  delivered 
only  from  the  snare  and  sin  of  perpetual  vows ;  all  these  .  .  .  would 
be  purely  beneficial." 

2£.  g..  The  Churchman,  n,  42-43  (1836)  ;  iii,  140  (1837). 

The  Church  of  England  Magazine,  xiii,  136  (1842)  ;  and  xvi,  360 
(1844). 

The  Church  and  State  Gazette,  ii,  507. 

The  Times — as  quoted  in  The  Guardian,  i,  516-517   (Dec.  9,  1846). 

The  Edinburgh  Review,  Ixxxii,  130  (July,  1845)  ;  Ixxxiii,  83  (Jan., 
1846);  cxiv,  319  (Oct.,  1861). 

Also  some  High  Churchmen  expressed  themselves  very  emphatically 
in  opposition :  e,  g..  Palmer,  A  Narrative  of  Events  connected  with  the 
Publication  of  the  Tracts  for  the  Times  (Oxford,  1843),  p.  80. 

Cf.  Liddon,  Life  of  Pusey,  ii,  269,  Letter  of  Rev.  E.  Churton  to  his 
friend  Pusey. 

Another  anti-monastic  writer  and  speaker  was  Michael  H.  Seymour, 
author  of  "A  Pilgrimage  to  Rome,  1848. 


96 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


changes  which  the  last  five  years  have  wrought  in  pubHc 
opinion,  none  is  more  remarkable  than  the  alteration  of  its 
tone  with  respect  to  Religious  Houses,  and  their  suppres- 
sion in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  lighter  literature,  that 
weathercock  which  veers  with  every  change  of  popular 
breath,  amply  proves  the  fact.  .  .  .  Now  the  suppression 
is  lamented  as  an  irreparable  blow  to  literature,  or  an  irre- 
vocable loss  to  the  poor."  ^ 

However  reliable  this  statement  may  be  as  to  the  opposi- 
tion or  support,  it  is  more  important  to  know  how  great 
was  the  interest  in  the  subject.  There  are  many  evidences 
of  its  considerable  extent  in  the  period  from  1840  to  1845. 
The  "lighter  literature"  just  mentioned  is  a  pretty  good 
indication  of  popularity.  A  number  of  novels  appeared 
about  this  time  with  plots  turning  on  monastic  events.^ 
If  historical  works  can  be  cited  as  indicating  a  popular 
interest,  there  are  several  to  be  noted.^     Another  evidence 

^  Introduction  to  the  edition  of  Spelman,  The  History  and  Fate  of 
Sacrilege,  published  in  1846,  p.  11. 

2  Sherwood,  Mrs.  (the  author  of  The  Nun),  The  Monk  of  Cimies 
(London,  1837).  It  shows  a  boy  reared  in  a  High  Church  home,  who 
became  a  Roman  Catholic  monk,  and  later  turned  to  Evangelicalism. 
It  gained  sufficient  popularity  to  be  reviewed  by  the  British  Critic,  July, 
1837. 

Geraldine.  A  novel  centered  around  conventual  life.  It  reached  its 
third  edition  by  1841.     Cf.  British  Critic,  xxix,  491  (April,  1841). 

Neale,  Ayton  Priory:  or  The  Restored  Monastery  (London,  1843). 

^  E.  g.,  Chronicle  of  Jocclyn  of  Brakclond  (published  by  the  Camden 
Society,  1840).  This  was  popularized  by  Carlyle  in  his  Past  and  Pres- 
ent. 

Wright,  Three  Chapters  of  Letters  on  the  Suppression  of  Monas- 
teries  (published  by  the  Camden  Society,  1843). 

Digby,  Mores  Catholici.  Volume  x  is  devoted  to  monasteries.  This 
is  praised  by  British  Critic,  xxxiii,  367  and  410  (April,  1843). 

Fox,  Monks  and  Monasteries,  1845.  Under  the  guise  of  history,  it  is 
really  an  argument  for  the  revival  of  monasteries.  It  aims  to  show  the 
error  by  which  obloquy  has  fallen  upon  these  institutions. 


DEVELOPMENT  97 

of  interest  in  this  subject  is  the  space  given  by  the  periodi- 
cals. Citations  from  these  have  been  made.  Enhghten- 
ing  also  is  the  statement  of  a  paper  hostile  to  monasteries. 
"We  propose  to  devote  a  series  of  papers  to  the  investiga- 
tion and  illustration  of  the  Monastic  Institution  that  existed 
in  England;  the  subject,  we  think,  will  be  an  acceptable  one 
to  the  readers  of  the  Churchman."  ^ 

But  there  was  one  man  of  outstanding  prominence  who 
did  much  to  popularize  the  subject  of  monastic  life.  This 
was  Thomas  Carlyle.  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  opinion 
of  a  modern  Anglican  monastic  journal  as  to  Carlyle's  in- 
fluence : 

There  must  be  very  many  whose  sympathy  with  the  Monastic 
life  was  first  aroused  by  the  picture  of  it  which  is  presented 
in  the  second  part  of  Thomas  Carlyle's  Past  and  Present.  The 
curious  chance  which  put  into  Carlyle's  hands  the  Camden  So- 
ciety's edition  of  the  original  text  of  Jocelyn's  Chronicle,  and 
which  led  him  to  see  in  the  person  of  the  Abbot  Samson  a 
character  from  whom  the  nineteenth  century  Englishman 
might  learn  not  a  little,  has  had  some  effects  of  which  he  never 
dreamed.  But  so  it  is.  Past  and  Present  gave  to  the  general 
reader  in  1843  ^  picture  of  the  inner  life  of  a  community  of 
the  twelfth  century,  which  had  hitherto  been  known  only  to 
the  antiquary. - 

Carlyle  praised  the  usefulness  of  the  active  monastic  life. 
He  testified  to  the  popularity  of  the  subject  when  he  said : 
"We  have  heard  so  much  of  monks,  everywhere  in  real 
and  fictitious  history."  ^     But  he  did  not  believe  the  old 

For  other  books  see  those  reviewed  in  English  Review,  ii,  424  (Dec, 
1844). 

1  The  Churchman,  1841,  pp.  52-53. 

2  Day,  E.  Hermitage,  in  Pax,  Dec,  1908,  p.  126. 

3  Past  and  Present,  bk.  ii,  ch.  i,  p.  44.  In  Carlyle's  Complete  Works, 
University  ed.,  vol.  iv. 


98 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


monastic  orders  could  be  revived.  "No  monk  of  the  old 
sort  is  any  longer  possible  in  this  world,"  he  said.^ 

Perhaps  the  best  statement  of  the  popular  interest  in 
monasteries  is  to  be  found  in  that  mouth-piece  of  the 
moderate  High  Churchman,  the  English  Review."^  It  tells 
how  many  circumstances  have  wrought  gradually  on  cer- 
tain minds  until  it  seems  in  some  quarters  that  there 
would  be  little  difficulty  in  restoring  the  old  exact  monastic 
forms.  Among  these  circumstances  it  mentions  the  fol- 
lowing: (i)  The  tendency  of  the  age  to  shake  off  prin- 
ciples and  prejudices  alike;  (2)  Reaction  against  narrow 
and  unjust  views  of  the  monastic  system;  (3)  Thirst  for 
something  beyond  the  self-indulgent  religion  of  the  day; 
(4)  The  natural  tendency  of  the  human  heart  toward  modes 
of  religion  which  are  not  prescribed  in  Scripture,  but  which 
exceed  its  requirements;  (5)  Attractiveness  to  the  imagina- 
tion of  systems  surrounded  by  the  solemn  associations  of 
sanctity,  and  lofty  endurance,  and  silence,  mystery  and  hoar 
antiquity;  (6)  The  romance  which  breathes  throughout  the 
monastic  system;  (7)  Its  aestheticism ;  (8)  The  very  re- 
mains more  beautiful  in  decay  than  in  their  perfection, 
which  tell  of  sacred  and  holy  things  brought  down  to  the 
dust  without  compunction  or  mercy.  So  rapidly  have  these 
influences  broken  down  the  old  opposition  to  monasticism, 
the  Review  thinks  the  present  generation  may  see  the  friars 
and  the  great  monasteries  restored.^  But  powerful  as  are 
these  appeals  for  the  old  monastic  forms,  far  more  peo- 
ple want  "reformed  monasteries,  the  members  of  which 
shall  not  be  bound  by  vows  of  celibacy,  or  of  perpetual 
continuance  in  the  monastic  state."  Their  chief  function 
w'ould  be  the  evangelization  of  the  large  cities.* 

It  is  interesting  to  note  also  the  varied  appeal  which 

1  Ibid.  3  Ibid. 

2  ii,  424  (Dec,  1844).  *^ Ibid.,  p.  425. 


DEVELOPMENT  nn 

conventual  institutions  made  to  individuals.  "To  some 
they  present  themselves  as  retreats  from  the  cares  and 
anxieties  of  life — to  others,  as  affording  opportunity  for 
penitence  and  mortification, — to  others,  as  the  habitations 
of  learning  and  intellectual  enjoyment, — to  others,  as  the 
pathway  to  heroic  and  saintly  acts  of  piety  and  devotion, — 
to  others,  as  the  most  effectual  mode  of  evangelizing  the 
heathen,  gathering  the  outcasts  into  the  fold  of  the  Church, 
instructing  the  young  in  the  truths  of  religion,  and  dis- 
tributing to  the  necessities  of  those  in  affliction  and 
sickness."  ^ 

Having  seen  this  wide  interest  and  varied  appeal,  one 
is  prepared  now  to  hear  of  the  actual  attempts.  He  is 
not  surprised  to  read :  "Already  we  have  had  definite  plans 
for  the  revival  of  monasteries  .  .  .  ;  and  we  have  even 
heard  occasional  reports  of  negotiations  for  the  purchase 
of  sites  for  the  intended  institutions."  ^ 

SEC.  V.  DEFINITE  PLANS  FOR  REVIVAL 

In  planning  to  revive  monastic  institutions,  there  was 
some  question  as  to  their  legality.  The  Disabilities  Act 
(lo  Geo.  IV,  c.  7)  had  prohibited  Roman  Catholic  religious 
orders  bound  by  vows,  except  the  orders  of  women. ^ 
This  Act  of  course  said  nothing  about  monastic  orders  in 
the  English  Church  for  such  were  not  seriously  contem- 
plated at  that  time.  Hence  the  English  Review  was  cor- 
rect in  saying:  "There  is  no  legal  impediment,  and  no 
actual  prohibition  by  the  Canons  of  the  Church."  *  There 
was  one  law,  however,  whose  repeal  or  modification  was 
regarded  as  desirable,  namely,  the  Mortmain  Act  of  1736. 
Its  repeal  would  open  the  way  for  private  charity,  which 
built  the  monasteries  and  cathedrals  of  the  past  and,  as 

1  Ibid.,  p.  428.  3  cf   xhe  Bulwark,  i,  149. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  428.  4ii_  448  (Dec,  1844). 


lOO  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

was  believed,  would  gladly  do  so  again/  To  this  end  the 
advocates  of  monasticism  desired  that  petitions  from  clergy 
and  laity  be  sent  to  Parliament."  In  addition  to  the  re- 
peal of  this  law,  it  was  desired  to  provide  for  the  reviV^al 
of  Convocation.^ 

Even  this  legislation  was  not  deemed  essential  by  all. 
Newman  was  aware  how  the  Rosminian  nuns  (Roman 
Catholic)  were  evading  the  Mortmain  Act  by  vesting  the 
property  legally  in  the  name  of  a  member,  while  really  it 
was  at  the  disposal  of  the  General.*  Therefore,  even  un- 
der existing  legal  and  social  conditions  monasteries  were 
entirely  feasible.  They  could  be  established  with  very  little 
trouble  or  expense;  and  if  they  would  engage  in  manu- 
factures, a  body  of  20  or  30  monks  could  not  only  main- 
tain itself  but  might  distribute  alms  besides.^  "li.ieed," 
said  the  organ  of  the  moderates,  "we  have  little  doubt  that 
were  St.  Anthony  or  St.  Bernard  to  revisit  the  earth,  they 
would  lose  no  time  in  establishing  factories  of  this  kind, 
in  which  labor  would  not  be  disproportional  to  strength, 
childhood  would  be  instructed,  and  the  means  of  extensive 
almsgiving  would  be  supplied."  *^  This  magazine,  which 
had  repudiated  the  mediaeval  monastic  system,  seemed  to 
indorse  the  active  practical  orders.  It  admitted,  however, 
that  monasticism  never  seems  to  exist  for  more  'than  one 
generation  in  purity.^ 

Convinced  of  the  legality  and  feasibility  of  monasteries, 
their  advocates  lost  no  time  in  preparing  concrete  plans. 

1  The  Monastic  and  Manufacturing  Systems,  p.  35. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  35. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  35. 

*  Pattison,  Memoirs    (London,    1885),  pp.   192-193.     Diary   for   Sun- 
day, Oct.  I,  1843,  at  Littlemore. 
^English  Review,  ii,  440  (Dec,  1844). 
^  Ibid.,  p.  441. 
^  Ibid.,    p.  441  et  seq. 


DEVELOPMENT  lOi 

"A  party  following  the  advice  of  Lord  John  Manners, 
determined  to  found  a  monastery  of  married  and  unmar- 
ried monks,  and  selected  as  their  site  a  small  village  in 
Suffolk;  the  unmarried  Fathers  were  to  take  'Bachelor's' 
vows,  regarding  'celibacy,  as  it  really  is,  as  a  higher  state,' 
and  that  'there  are  surely  duties  enough  in  the  church  where 
celibacy  may  have  its  proper  place.'  "  ^  A  paper,  taken 
from  the  Church  Intelligencer  was  widely  circulated  among 
the  Oxford  party.  Its  title  gives  its  purpose :  Revival  of 
Monastic  and  conventual  Institutions  on  a  plan  adapted  to 
the  exigencies  of  the  Reformed  Catholic  Church  in  Eng- 
land.'^ The  quotations  at  its  beginning  are  selected  from 
varied  types  of  writers.^  In  its  preamble,  it  says :  "It 
is  a  question  which  must  long  have  presented  itself  to  re- 
flecting Christians,  'In  what  way  the  general  interests  of 
the  Church  and  the  Christian  education  of  her  people  may 
be  best  promoted;  and  by  what  means  a  remedy  may  be 
best  provided  for  many  of  the  evils — social,  domestic,  and 
personal — arising  out  of  the  present  disordered  state  of 
our  civil  and  ecclesiastical  relations.  ?'  "  *  It  suggests  as 
"perhaps  the  best  model  for  such  establishments  (mutatis 
mutandis)  the  monastery  of  Port  Royal  des  Champs  as 
described  by  Mrs.  Schimmelpeninck,  in  her  edifying 
Memoirs  of  Port  Royal."  ^ 

The  objects  of  such  a  revival  the  paper  states  as  follows : 
"  ( I )     To  widen  and  deepen  the  legitimate  influence  of 
the  Church,  by  exhibiting  a  model  of  her  system  as  fully 
carried  out  and  reduced  to  actual  practice. 

^Browne,  Annals  of  the  Tractarian  Movement   (London,   1861),  p. 
92. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  93. 

3  Vide  Appendix,  iii. 

*  Browne,  op.  cit.,  pp.  93-94. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  94. 


I02  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

"(2)  To  promote  and  conduct  Christian  education  upon 
Church  principles. 

"(3)  To  afford  a  retreat  for  the  contemplative,  the  be- 
reaved, the  destitute,  and  the  embarrassed. 

"(4)  To  cherish  a  spirit  of  devotion,  charity,  humility, 
and  obedience. 

"(5)  To  give  better  opportunities  of  acquiring  self- 
knowledge  and  exercising  penitence. 

"(6)  To  promote  simplicity  and  godly  sincerity  in  the 
intercourse  of  life. 

"(7)  To  revive  plainness  and  self-denial  in  diet,  dress, 
furniture,  etc. 

"(8)  To  form  habits  of  retirement,  silence,  and  recol- 
lection." ^ 

The  means  by  which  the  above  objects  are  to  be  attained 
are  also  explicitly  stated. 

"  ( I )  A  system  of  community  where  the  superabundance 
of  the  wealthier  might  be  made  available  to  the  support 
of  the  poorer  members. 

"(2)  Daily  public  devotion  and  frequent  communion 
agreeably  to  the  order  of  the  Church. 

"(3)  Strict  observance  of  Festivals,  Fasts,  etc.,  pre- 
scribed in  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 

"(4)     A  Rule  for  dress,  diet,  furniture,  recreation,  etc. 

"(5)  Appointed  time  for  silence  and  subjects  of  medi- 
tation. 

"(6)     Corporal  and  spiritual  works  of  mercy. 

"(7)     Exercising  penitence  and  obedience. 

"(8)  Bodily  and  mental  labor — particularly  in  educat- 
ing the  young,  composing  works  to  meet  the  necessities  of 
the  Church,  working  for  the  poor,  and  assisting  in  the 
various  duties  of  the  establishment."  ^ 

1  Ibid.,  p.  94. 
^Ibid.,  pp.  94-95. 


DEVELOPMENT 


103 


In  conclusion  it  may  be  well  to  measure  the  advance 
made.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  much  more  "monastic"  were 
the  theories  of  the  extreme  Tractarians,  and  even  these 
published  plans,  than  those  of  Southey,  the  chief  advo- 
cate of  religious  orders  before  the  Oxford  Movement.  He 
had  no  place  for  penitence,  contemplation,  mortification  and 
the  other  marks  of  mediaeval  monasticism.  He  thought 
only  of  the  practical  social  services  to  be  rendered  to  a 
suffering  people  and  the  necessarily  idle  women.  In  1844 
we  have  Southey's  social  arguments  retained,  but  many  of 
these  purely  monastic  elements  added.  Moreover,  these 
conventual  communities  were  advocated  not  merely  for 
women,  as  in  Southey's  articles,  but  for  both  sexes.^  This 
introduction  of  the  purely  monastic  elements  and  this  ex- 
tension of  application  to  both  men  and  women  were  the 
contribution  of  the  Oxford  party,  or  rather  of  the  ex- 
tremists of  that  group. 

1  Browne,  op.  cit.,  pp.  93-94. 


CHAPTER  V 
The  Beginning  of  Sisterhoods 

SEC.   I.    THE   first   STEPS 

The  advocates  of  monasticism  among  the  Oxford  School 
desired  reHgious  orders  of  both  sexes.  If  a  comparison  of 
emphases  were  to  be  made,  the  arguments  of  the  last  chapter 
seemed  to  aim  more  at  monasteries  than  at  nunneries.  In 
fact  the  greatest  of  the  Oxford  leaders  endeavored  to 
establish  a  "monastery"  as  early  as  1840.^  Nevertheless 
religious  orders  of  women  were  successfully  started  almost 
two  decades  before  those  of  men.     Why? 

The  answer  to  this  question  will  probably  become  ap- 
parent as  the  account  of  the  Sisterhood  work  progresses; 
but  some  indications  may  be  given  here.  First  of  all,  it 
should  be  noted  that  this  movement  had  a  broader  basis  in 
authority  than  the  Brotherhoods.  It  is  commonly  credited 
to  the  Oxford  School.^  Some  even  limit  it  to  Pusey  and 
his  particular  followers.^  But  there  seems  more  semblance 
of  truth  in  the  statement  that  "although  usually  credited 
to  the  'Oxford  School,'  the  Sisterhood  movement  forms 
a  part  of  a  far  wider  change  affecting  the  position,  in- 

1  Cf.  ch.  vi. 

2  C/.  Overton,  The  Anglican  Revival  (London,  1897),  p.  219.  Kel- 
way,  The  Story  of  the  Catholic  Revival  (London,  1914).  Edinburgh 
Review,  xcviii,  307    (1853). 

3  Cf.  Cruttwell,  Six  Lectures  on  the  Oxford  Movement  and  Its  Re- 
sults on  the  Church  of  England  (London,  1899),  pp.  134-136.  Spencer, 
Papal  Aggressions  Aided  and  Encouraged  by  Tractarian  Movements. 
A  Sermon  (Devonport,  1850),  p.  13. 

104 


SISTERHOODS 


105 


dependence,  training  and  responsibilities  of  educated  Eng- 
lish women."  ^  That  the  intimate  connection  of  the  Ox- 
ford leaders  would  give  rise  to  the  belief  that  they  were 
its  authors,  will  be  seen  later.  But  this  account  has  shown 
the  agitation  for  orders  of  women  before  the  Tractarian 
movement  of  1833.  It  has  been  seen  that  such  non-Trac- 
tarians  as  Thomas  Arnold  "  and  Robert  Southey  were  de- 
sirous to  have  Sisters  in  the  English  Church.  In  later 
years  friends  of  Sisterhoods  were  to  appeal  to  these  two 
men  as  their  authorities,  some  without  even  mentioning 
the  Oxford  School.^  Moreover  the  first  of  these  institu- 
tions was  planned  as  a  memorial  to  Southey.  Hence  it 
seems  safe  to  conclude  that  Anglican  Sisterhoods  are  in- 
debted to  the  Oxford  School  for  their  form,  but  not  for 
their  original  impulse.  And  it  was  the  fact  that  they 
could  appeal  to  authority  wider  than  the  Tractarian  move- 
ment which  helped  them  to  secure  a  foothold  earlier  than 
the  Brotherhoods,  whose  advocates  were  more  limited. 

A  second  factor  which  aided  the  early  establishment  of 
Sisterhoods  was  the  growing  interest  in  woman's  social 
and  industrial  position.  This  interest  probably  had  more 
to  do  with  aiding  the  progress  of  the  movement  a  decade 
after  its  beginning,  but  it  had  already  been  felt  for  some 
time,  especially  after  the  Napoleonic  Wars.*  Newman,  in 
his  memorable  article  of  1835,  advocated  religious  orders 
of  women  on  the  ground  that  they  would  "give  dignity 
and  independence  to  the  position  of  women  in  society."  ^ 

1  Davidson  and  Benham,  Life  of  Archibald  Campbell  Tait,  i,  449 
(London,  1891). 

2  Christian  Life;  Its  Course,  Its  Hindrances,  and  Its  Helps  (Lon- 
don, 1845),  Introduction,  p.  56. 

3  Seymour,  in  his  Speech  in  Convocation,  Chronicle  of  Convocation 
(1861-1863),  p.  838. 

*  Vide  supra,  ch.  iii. 

^British  Magazine,  vii,  667  (June,  1835). 


Io6  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

He  added,  "As  matters  stand  marriage  is  the  sole  shelter 
which  a  defenceless  portion  of  the  community  has  against 
the  rude  world."  ^  And  since  the  women  so  far  outnum- 
bered the  men  in  those  years,  many  were  thus  left  with- 
out even  that  questionable  shelter.  Thus  communities  for 
women  could  make  a  wide  social,  as  well  as  a  religious, 
appeal.  Newman  recognized  this  distinction.  "This 
treatise,"  he  wrote,  "  is  addressed  to  women  as  well  as 
men;  religious  sisterhoods  being  as  much  demanded  in  the 
model  of  a  perfect  church  by  Christian  charity,  as  monastic 
fraternities  by  zeal."  ^  The  Oxford  School  felt  the  need 
of  renewed  zeal  and  therefore  of  Brotherhoods;  but  the 
whole  church  was  beginning  to  recognize  the  demands  of 
charity,  and  consequently  was  more  receptive  to  the  orders 
of  women.  Moreover  this  interest  was  not  limited  to  the 
Established  Church.  Quakers  were  contemplating  an  order 
of  nurses,  similar  to  Sisters  of  Charity.^  Commissions 
were  being  appointed  to  investigate  the  work  and  position 
of  women.  Female  education  was  a  vital  problem.  Peo- 
ple of  high  rank  educated  their  daughters  at  home  because 
they  lacked  confidence  in  the  available  seminaries.^  On 
these  broad  social  needs  therefore,  communities  of  women 
were  enabled  to  secure  a  foundation,  while 'the  zeal  was  still 
lacking  to  give  permanence  to  the  orders  of  men.^ 

With   the  general  preparation  traced   in   the  preceding 
chapter  and  these  specific  factors  in  addition,  the  time  was 

1  Ibid.,  p.  667. 

2  British  Magazine,  vii,  667. 

3  Liddon,  Life  of  Pusey,  iii,  8-9. 

*  British  Magazine,  ix,  367  (1836). 

^  To  these  factors  should  be  added  a  further  explanation  by  Pusey, 
writing  after  thirty  years  of  observation.  "For  men  it  is  more  diffi- 
cult, for  there  are  few  who  have  what  the  Marriage  Service  calls  the 
gift  of  continency."  Letter  of  Pusey,  July  13,  1881,  in  Russell,  Dr. 
Pusey  (London,  1912),  p.  105. 


SISTERHOODS  107 

now  ripe  for  a  beginning.  Who  would  take  the  lead? 
Froude  had  desired  orders  of  men,  but  he  was  dead.  New- 
man had  felt  the  need  of  Sisterhoods  as  well  as  Brother- 
hoods, but  he  was  leading  a  retired  life  at  Littlemore.^  It 
remained  for  Pusey  to  launch  the  Sisterhood  movement. 
Several  factors  had  helped  him  toward  this  desire.  For 
many  years  his  thoughts  and  charities  had  been  turned  to 
the  condition  of  the  large  cities,  especially  to  that  of  the 
East  End  of  London.^  He  was  convinced  of  the  need  of 
new  social  machinery  for  their  amelioration.  He  was  also 
influenced  by  the  difficulty  of  finding  suitable  employment 
for  unmarried  women,  a  problem  of  which  he  had  often 
heard. ^  Thirdly,  his  study  of  the  Fathers,  as  in  the  case 
of  Newman  and  the  other  Oxford  leaders,  had  shown  him 
the  stress  laid  by  the  early  church  on  virginity  and  reiterated 
by  the  seventeenth  century  divines.*  Moreover  causes 
nearer  home  aided  in  this  conviction.  Pusey's  daughter 
Lucy  had  from  very  early  childhood  expressed  her  desire 
to  lead  the  life  of  a  religious.^  He  himself  after  the  death 
of  his  wife  in  May,  1839  was  convinced  that  Providence 
had  ordained  for  him  a  single  life.  Hence  this  husband 
and  father,  who  had  said  nothing  openly  in  the  Oxford 
School's  agitation  for  celibacy,  and  had  been  merely  a  fol- 
lower of  Newman  and  Froude  in  the  early  cry  for  colleges 
of  celibate  priests,  now  in  1839  began  to  act  independently 
in  his  desire  for  religious  orders  of  women.  On  Dec.  18, 
1839  he  wrote  to  Keble :  "Newman  and  I  have  separately 
come  to  think  it  necessary  to  have  some  'Soeiirs  de  charite' 
in  the  Anglo-Catholic  (Church).  He  is  going  to  have  an 
article  on  it  in  the  British  Critic.  H  no  one  else  writes  it 
he  will  do  it  himself.  .  .  .  My  notion  was  that  it  might  be- 

^  Cf.  ch.  vi.  ■*  Ibid.,  pp.  2-4. 

2  Liddon,  op.  cit.,  iii,  2.  ^  lljid.,  p.  4. 

3  Ibid. 


Io8  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

gin  by  regular  employment  as  nurses  in  hospitals  and  lunatic 
asylums,  in  which  last  Christian  nursing  is  so  sadly 
missed."  ^ 

Pusey  soon  outstripped  Newman  in  this  movement,  as 
a  letter  of  the  latter  indicates :  "Pusey  is  at  present  very 
eager  about  setting  up  Sisters  of  Mercy.  I  feel  sure  that 
such  institutions  are  the  only  means  of  saving  some  of  our 
best  members  from  turning  Roman  Catholics;  and  yet  I 
despair  of  such  societies  being  made  externally.  They  must 
be  the  expression  of  an  inward  principle.  All  one  can  do 
is  to  offer  the  opportunity.  I  am  sceptical,  too,  whether 
they  can  be  set  up  without  a  quasi-vow."  "  Newman's  de- 
sire seemed  more  or  less  passive.  He  recognized  the  needs, 
but  he  was  willing  to  wait.  This  is  shown  by  the  follow- 
ing letter:  "There  are  doubtless  many  women  who  waste 
their  lives  as  things  are,  whose  calling  and  happiness  would 
seem  to  be  in  uniting  in  a  religious  society,  supposing  they 
had  a  rule  sufficiently  authoritative  to  overcome  differences 
of  tastes  and  tempers."  ^  He  asked  his  correspondent  to 
cherish  the  wish  for  such  a  life  and  to  pray  for  it,  if  it  be 
at  present  impracticable.  Newman  wanted  the  matter 
thoroughly  discussed  and  the  cost  counted  before  the  at- 
tempt was  made.  "What  you  hear  about  a  convent  is  a 
mere  mistake.  I  know  nothing  of  it.  But  I  am  very  glad 
to  heari  that  such  ideas  are  spreading,  and  talking  is  the  first 
step  to  doing.  Several  plans  are  in  agitation  for  establish- 
ing Sisters  of  Mercy,  whether  for  hospitals  or  for  parochial 
visiting;  but  I  expect  nothing  of  them  yet.  It  is  a  great 
thing  if  persons  communicate  to  each  other  their  ideas  and 
wishes.     No  one  can  begin  solitarily,  but  the  feeling  that 

'^  Ibid.,  p.  5. 

2  Mozley,  Letters  and  Correspondence  of  J.  H.  Newman,  ii.  298-299. 
Letter  of  Newman  to  J.  W.  Bowden,  Feb.  21,  1840. 

3  Letter  to  ZYX,  a  lady,  Mar.  29,  1840,  ibid.,  p.  307. 


SISTERHOODS  IO9 

there  are  others  like-minded  gives  at  once  confidence  and 
opportunity.  ...  A  very  strong  rehgious  principle  and  a 
tight  discipline  would  be  necessary.  But  it  is  a  very  good 
thing  for  people  to  be  thinking  about.  Nothing  would  need 
more  counting  the  cost."  ^ 

While  Newman  was  thinking  over  the  advantages  of  con- 
ventual life  but  doing  nothing  to  launch  it,  Pusey  was  busy 
getting  suggestions  and  laying  plans.  He  met  with  a 
favorable  response  from  many.  In  1839,  he  wrote:  "I 
have  named  it  since  to  very  different  sorts  of  persons,  and 
all  are  taken  with  it  exceedingly,  (except  B.  Harrison,  who, 
as  Archbishop's  chaplain,  is  half  afraid  of  it,  and  think 
that  there  would  be  numbers  of  people  who  are  yearning 
to  be  employed  that  way."  "  One  of  these  correspondents 
was  W.  Perceval  Ward,  Rector  of  Compton  Valence.  He 
had  resided  much  abroad  and  had  been  interested  in  the 
Sisterhood  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  as  well  as  other  types 
of  community  life  on  the  continent.  Ward  urged  the  ne- 
cessity of  some  such  associations  in  order  to  save  the  popu- 
lation of  the  cities  from  Romanism  or  irreligion.^ 

Another  friend  to  whom  Pusey  wrote  was  Dr.  W.  F. 
Hook,  Vicar  of  Leeds.  Pusey  stated  that  he  desired  such 
sisterhoods  "  ( i )  as  in  themselves  belonging  to  and  foster- 
ing a  high  tone  in  the  Church;  (2)  as  giving  a  holy  em- 
ployment to  many  who  yearn  for  something;  (3)  as  di- 
recting zeal  which  will  otherwise  go  off  in  some  irregular 
way,  or  go  over  to  Rome."  *  He  then  makes  a  specific 
request:     "Do  you  know  of  any  who  would  engage   in 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  315-316.  Letter  to  Miss  Giberne,  Nov.  4,  1840.  Newman 
tried  to  point  out  the  difficulties  of  conventual  life  to  a  lady  who  was 
contemplating  entrance  into  a  Roman  Catholic  order.    Ibid.,  p.  348. 

2  Liddon,  op.  cit.,  iii,  5. 

3  Ibid.,  pp.  5-6 ;  cf.  letter. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  6.    Letter  of  Dec,  1839. 


no  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

it  on  a  small  scale,  quietly,  or  one  who  would  be  a  Mother 
Superior,  i.e.,  one  fitted  to  guide  it?"^  Hook's  warning 
shows  the  spirit  of  the  time : 

I  perfectly  agree  with  you  in  thinking  it  to  be  most  important 
to  have  a  class  of  persons  acting  under  us  and  answering  to 
the  Sisters  of  Charity  in  some  foreign  churches.  But  there 
will  be  great  difficulties  in  the  way.  Although  we  shall  obtain 
the  cooperation  of  the  really  pious  of  all  classes  ultimately, 
there  will  be  much  opposition  from  those  "Evangelical"  ladies 
who  at  present  control  the  visiting  societies.  ...  I  am  always 
an  advocate  for  exhibiting  works  before  principles.  ,  .  . 
What  I  should  like  to  have  done  is  this:  for  you  to  train  an 
elderly  matron,  and  for  her  to  come  here  and  take  lodgings 
with  two  or  three  other  females.  Let  their  object  be  known 
to  none  but  myself.  .  .  .  We  should  attend  to  their  principles, 
but  draw  up  no  rules,  except  such  as  might  be  absolutely  neces- 
sary for  the  guidance  of  the  household,  and  there  should  be 
no  distinction  of  dress.  .  .  .  Let  this  go  on  for  twelve  months 
at  least.  We  could  then  have  a  meeting  of  our  friends  pre- 
pared to  support  this  establishment.^ 

At  this  same  time  Pusey  was  corresponding  with  Mr. 
W.  Greenhill,  who  was  studying  medicine  in  Paris.  Green- 
hill  undertook  to  obtain  for  him  the  rules  of  the  Sisters 
of  the  Order  of  St.  Augustine,  and  also  those  of  St.  Vin- 
cent de  Paul,^ 

In  the  midst  of  this  discussion  and  study,  a  very  definite 
step  was  taken  toward  the  actual  beginning  of  a  Sister- 
hood. On  June  5,  1841,  Pusey  wrote  to  Newman:  "A 
young  lady,  who  is  very  grateful  to  your  teaching,  is  pur- 
posing to-day  to  take  a  vow  of  holy  celibacy.  She  has 
difficulties  and  anxieties  in  her  position.     She  has  attended 

1  Ibid. 

^Ibid.,  p.  7.    Letter  of  June  9,  1840. 

3  Ibid.,  pp.  7-8. 


SISTERHOODS  HI 

St.  Mary's  since  she  has  been  in  Oxford,  and  hopes  to 
receive  the  Holy  Communion  there  to-day  as  part  of  her 
self-devotion.  It  was  wished  that  you  should  know  it  and 
remember  her.  You  will  know  her  by  her  being  dressed 
in  white  with  an  ivory  cross."  ^  The  lady  referred  to  in 
this  letter  was  Miss  Marian  Hughes.^ 

Shortly  after  her  self-dedication  Miss  Hughes  went  to 
Normandy  with  the  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Seager,  in  order  to 
study  so  far  as  possible  the  orders  of  women  in  France. 
They  visited  at  Bayeux  a  community  of  White  Augustines 
or  Ursulines.  At  Caen  they  studied  a  convent  under  the 
Rule  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales.  This  latter  especially  pleased 
Pusey  and  "in  the  regulations  of  the  first  English  com- 
munity of  Sisters  it  is  not  difficult  to  trace  the  influence  of 
the  information  thus  conveyed."  ^  In  the  same  year  Pusey 
himself  visited  Ireland  in  order  to  study  the  working  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Sisterhoods  there;  but  "although  he 
visited  some  convents,  and  witnessed  the  reception  of  a 
Sister,  there  is  no  evidence  of  his  having  gathered  from 
this  quarter  much  experience  or  information  which  could 
be  turned  to  account  in  his  projects  for  Anglican  Sister- 
hoods." * 

Four  years,  however,  elapsed  between  the  dedication  of 
the  first  Sisters  and  the  establishment  of  the  first  Sisterhood. 

^Ibid.,  p.  10. 

2  Miss  Hughes  said  that  she  was  influenced  to  take  the  step  by  the 
following  passage  in  Newman's  Church  of  the  Fathers,  ch.  14 :  "And 
if  women  have  themselves  lost  so  much  by  the  present  state  of  things, 
what  has  been  the  loss  of  the  poor,  sick  and  aged,  to  whose  service 
they  might  consecrate  the  life  which  they  refuse  to  shackle  by  the 
marriage  vow?  What  has  been  the  loss  of  the  ignorant,  sinful  and 
miserable,  among  whom  they  only  can  move  without  indignity,  who 
bear   a   religious    character   upon   them  ...   ?"    (Russell,   Dr.   Pusey, 

p.  57). 

3  Liddon,  op.  cit.,  iii,  li. 

4  Ibid. 


112  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

Pusey  was  patient  and  hopeful.  To  Miss  Hughes  he 
wrote :  "The  time  is  not  lost,  but  rather  gained,  which 
passes  before  any  formal  institution  is  made.  It  is  too 
great  a  work  to  be  brought  about  readily  and  yet 
solidly.  .  .  .  The  difficulties  which  people  have  to  go 
through  before  they  enter  upon  it  are  a  means  of  dis- 
ciplining them  to  enter  upon  it  aright.  ...  I  doubt  not, 
then,  that  while  such  institutions  are  for  the  time  withheld, 
people  are  being  prepared  both  to  enter  them  in  a  deeper 
spirit,  and  to  welcome  them  more  gratefully.  Yet  there 
must  be  continued  prayer  for  them."  ^ 

Before  turning  to  the  foundation  of  the  first  Sisterhood, 
it  may  be  well  to  ask  what  kind  of  an  institution  Pusey 
desired.  It  was  seen  in  the  last  chapter  that  the  Trac- 
tarians  had  advanced  from  the  somewhat  emasculated  mo- 
nastic orders  of  Southey  toward  the  old  Romanist  models. 
When  Pusey  came  to  the  specific  matter  of  establishment, 
he  did  not  really  retract  his  advanced  views.  However,  he 
recognized  that  a  start  must  be  made  on  the  more  plausible 
ground  of  active  social  institutions.  "It  seemed  best,"  he 
wrote  in  1839,  "that  at  first  they  should  not  be  so  discur- 
sive as  those  of  the  Romish  Church  in  Ireland,  but  be 
employed  in  hospitals,  lunatic  asylums,  prisons,  among  the 
females."  "  But  that  the  emphasis  on  activity  was  only  to 
secure  a  start  is  shown  by  his  preference  for  the  Rule  of 
St.  Francis  de  Sales.^  "The  leanings  of  his  mind  drew 
him  from  the  more  active  orders  of  Augustinians  and 
Soeurs  to  the  Rule  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales'  Order  of  the 
Visitation,  from  which  as  we  have  seen  active  nursing 
work  had  been  displaced  by  ascetic  regulations,  and  it  was 
a  modification  of  this  rule,  providing  for  about  four  hours 

1  Ibid.,  p.  12. 

~  Ibid.,  p.  6.    Letter  to  Dr.  Hook. 

3  Cf.  supra,  p.  III. 


SISTERHOODS 


113 


daily  of  visiting  among  the  poor,  which  was  finally  adopted 
for  the  Park  Village  Community."  ^ 

In  view  of  later  discussions,  Pusey's  attitude  toward 
vows  at  this  time  should  be  noted.  In  reviewing  a  German 
Protestant  pamphlet  on  the  subject  of  Sisterhoods,  he  ob- 
served : 

It  would  do  us  harm,  too,  that  he  speaks  so  strongly  against 
vows,  as  of  something  inferior.  We,  who  are  admitted  to  the 
priesthood,  are  under  vows ;  we  devote  ourselves  for  a  whole 
life;  why  should  not  women  also  for  their  offices?  It  seems 
to  me  a  more  religious  way  of  devoting  themselves  to  their 
office,  than  if  they  reserved  to  themselves  the  power  to  draw 
back.  Our  very  word  "devoting  himself"  implies  a  vow. 
Only,  of  course,  they  should  have  proved  themselves  before 
they  venture  to  make  it.  We  should  be  very  slow  about  mak- 
ing vows,  because  in  the  state  of  things  around  us,  there  are 
so  many  temptations  to  break  them ;  but  still  I  should  be  sorry 
for  anything  to  be  published  against  them  in  the  abstract.^ 

SEC.  II.    THE  SISTERHOOD  AT  PARK  VILLAGE 

When  Robert  Southey  died  in  1843,  there  was  a  discus- 
sion as  to  a  memorial  for  him.  Lord  John  Manners  wrote 
later  of  his  part  in  this  discussion :  "I  suggested  in  a  let- 
ter to  the  Morning  Post  a  Sisterhood  of  Mercy;  the  sug- 
gestion was  favorably  received."  ^  A  few  of  its  advocates 
met  in  Manners'  rooms  at  the  Albany  and  determined  to 
start  such  a  project.  Two  conditions  were  imposed :  (i) 
That  it  should  be  located  in  a  parish  whose  incumbent 
would  welcome  it  and  become  its  spiritual  head.  The  par- 
ish suggested  was  that  of  Christ  Church,  St.  Pancras,  whose 
vicar  was  the  Rev.  W.  Dodsworth;  (2)  That  the  Bishop 
of    London   should   give   his   sanction.     The    Bishop,    Dr. 

1  Dock,  History  of  Nursing,  ii,  77. 

2  Liddon,  op.  cit.,  iii,  8. 

3  Russel,  Dr.  Pusey,  pp.  58-59. 


114 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


Blomfield,  was  afraid  and  the  matter  was  allowed  to  rest 
for  about  two  months,  when  he  finally  agreed.^ 

This  interested  group  contained  friends  of  Pusey.  On 
the  day  after  his  daughter  Lucy's  funeral  in  April,  1844, 
his  sorrow  was  lightened  by  two  letters  from  these  ad- 
vocates of  the  institutions  for  which  Lucy  had  longed. 
The  first  was  from  Mr.  T.  D,  Acland  giving  an  account 
of  the  two  meetings  in  London  to  consider  the  subject. 
The  representative  men  interested  are  shown  by  the  at- 
tendance at  the  second  meeting:  Lord  Lyttelton,  Lord 
Clive,  Lord  Camden,  Lord  John  Manners,  Mr.  Dickinson, 
Mr.  Watts-Russell,  Mr.  Acland,  Rev.  W.  Dodsworth  and 
Dr.  Hook.  Mr.  W.  E.  Gladstone  could  not  be  present, 
but  wrote  in  warm  sympathy  of  the  project."  The  second 
letter  was  from  Lord  John  Manners,  who  had  been  in- 
structed to  ask  Pusey  whether  he  knew  of  any  one  qualified 
for  the  post  of  Lady  Superior.^ 

Pusey,  however,  could  suggest  no  one  for  the  position. 
He  had  corresponded  with  several  ladies  who  might  serve 
as  Sisters,  but  none  seemed  qualified  to  lead.  In  this  em- 
barrassing position,  the  lay  committee  *  in  the  name  of 
Lord  John  Manners  went  ahead  and  secured  a  house  to 
be  occupied  as  soon  as  suitable  Sisters  could  be  found.  The 
house  was  a  small  detached  one  at  17  Park  Village  West, 
not  many  minutes  walk  from  Albany  Street,  Regent's  Park. 
On  the  ground  floor  it  had  a  parlor,  a  recreation  room,  and 
a  small  oratory,  leading  into  each  other.  The  upper  rooms 
were  partitioned  into  six  cells,  and  there  were  four  attics. 
The  house  throughout  was  plainly  furnished.^ 

^Ihid. 

2  Liddon,  op.  cit.,  iii,  13. 

8  Ibid. 

*  Trench,  Dr.  Pusey,  pp.  266  et  seq.  V 

5  Liddon,  op.  cit.,  iii,  i6. 


SISTERHOODS  II5 

The  institution  was  opened  March  26,  1845,  with  only 
two  Sisters,  Miss  Jane  Ellacombe  and  Miss  Mary  Bruce. 
In  a  few  weeks  they  were  joined  by  Miss  Terrot,  a  daughter 
of  the  Bishop  of  Edinburgh,  who  said  he  was  far  from 
being  a  Tractarian  but  nevertheless  consented  to  his  daugh- 
ter's wishes/  A  few  weeks  later  a  Superior  was  found  in 
Miss  Langston.  "She  was  ten  years  older  than  any  of 
her  companions;  and  seemed  to  have  been  a  person  of 
'strong  understanding,  fervent  piety,  and  extreme  sim- 
plicity of  manners.'  "  ^  Her  arrival  was  speedily  followed 
by  four  more,  two  being  introduced  by  Mr.  Dodsworth 
and  two  by  Mr.  Upton  Richards.  While  the  house  was 
taken  in  the  name  of  the  lay  committee,  Pusey  seems  to 
have  been  "regarded  as  the  founder,  and  his  office  was 
that  of  spiritual  superintendent."  ^  In  this  he  was  assisted 
by  the  Rev.  W.  Dodsworth.  Pusey's  motive  was  quite 
different  from  that  of  the  London  committee.  "To  them 
it  was  less  an  effort  once  more  to  restore  the  consecrated 
single  life  than  an  attempt  to  relieve  the  misery  and  ig- 
norance of  the  great  towns,  and  as  a  tribute  to  the  wisdom 
and  forethought  of  Robert  Southey."  *  Their  social  mo- 
tive was  shown  in  the  "confidential"  paper  which  they 
circulated  shortly  after  the  Sisterhood  was  opened.^  Pusey, 
on  the  other  hand,  primarily  desired  to  revive  the  monastic 
life.  His  influence  gradually  increased  so  that  by  the  time 
a  permanent  home  came  to  be  built  in  1852,  one  biographer 
writes :    **The  management  of  the  Sisterhood  appears  to 

^  Ibid.,  p.  17;  cf.  Yonge,  in  The  Treasury,  April,  1914. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  17. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  18;  cf.  Cookesley,  A  Letter  to  His  Grace  the  Archbishop 
of  Dublin  on  ...  Miss  Sellon's  Establishment  (London,  1853),  5th 
ed.,  p.  12. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  18. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  21. 


Il6  THE  REVIVAL  OP  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

have  passed  away  from  the  Lay  Founders  to  Dr.  Pusey, 
Mr.  Richards  and  Miss  Sellon."  ' 

That  Pusey's  interest  was  not  so  purely  social  as  that 
of  the  Committee  which  he  supplanted  is  shown  also  by 
the  Rule  adopted.  In  determining  this,  Pusey  wrote: 
"We  naturally  went  by  experience.  Lord  John  Manners 
procured  us  the  rules  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  at  Birming- 
ham.^ I  had  some  rules  by  me,  used  by  different  bodies 
in  England  and  on  the  continent.  We  took  as  our  basis 
St.  Augustine's  Rule,  as  extant  in  an  Epistle  ^  of  his  to 
some  'Sanctimoniales,'  whom  he  had  brought  together.  .  .  . 
On  this  we  engrafted  others,  always  bearing  in  mind  the 
character  of  English  church  women."  ^  The  completed 
Rule  of  the  Sisterhood  consisted  of  thirty-three  chapters. 
Its  sermonic  nature  is  seen  from  the  following  letter  of 
a  sympathizer :  "Have  you  seen  the  rules  of  St.  Saviour's, 
Regent's  Park?  They  are  short  sermons,  expansions  of 
St.  Augustine's.  .  .  .  The  advantage  of  a  sermonic  rule 
is  that  the  reading  of  it  gives  a  devotional  atmosphere  to 
the  house."  ^  That  its  primary  object  was  holiness,  with 
the  social  mark  merely  a  means  toward  that  end,  is  shown 
by  this  Rule,  which  states  the  aim  to  be  "to  afford  oppor- 
tunities for  persons  apart  from  the  world  and  its  distrac- 
tions to  perfect  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  to  grow 
in  the  love  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  espe- 
cially by  cherishing  and  showing  forth  love  to  Him  in  His 
poor  and  afflicted  brethren."  ^     The  Rule  insisted  on  the 

1  Russell,  op.  cit.,  p.  59. 

-  The  influence  of  these  restored  Roman  Catholic  conventual  orders 
confirms  the  thesis  of  Ch.  ii. 

^St.  Augustine's  Epistle,  211,  0pp.  ii,  783  (ed.  Ben). 

^  Liddon,  op  .cit.,  iii,  22. 

^  Letter  of  Rev.  W.  Butler  to  John  M.  Neale,  in  Towle,  John  Mason 
Neale,  A  Memoir  (London,  1906),  p.  22,7. 

6  Liddon,  op.  cit.,  iii,  23. 


SISTERHOODS  II7 

various  Christian  graces  of  humility,  charity,  modesty, 
purity,  voluntary  poverty,  and  obedience,  and  gave  prac- 
tical directions  for  their  cultivation.  The  various  elements 
of  the  devotional  side  of  the  Christian  life  were  treated, 
such  as,  Holy  Communion,  the  practice  of  self-examination, 
confession,  meditation  and  mortification.  Rules  were 
given  for  directing  the  thoughts  and  purposes  of  the  Sisters 
in  the  various  tasks,  for  silence  at  certain  hours,  for  inter- 
course with  outsiders,  for  recreation,  etc.  The  last  por- 
tion of  the  Rule  was  devoted  to  the  works  of  mercy  to 
be  undertaken :  visiting  the  sick,  teaching  in  schools,  and 
the  admission  of  distressed  women  to  a  temporary  home.^ 
Under  a  Rule  which  so  emphasized  the  devotional  fea- 
tures, and  with  a  guide  so  ascetic  in  his  tendencies  as  Pusey 
has  been  seen  to  be,"  there  was  danger  that  these  inex- 
perienced and  enthusiastic  Sisters  might  run  to  excesses. 
Such  charges  were  made.^  Pusey,  however,  denied  any 
ascetic  excesses.  "They  have  all  which  is  necessary,  good 
food,  warm  clothing,  firing.  .  .  .  But  real  care  is  taken 
of  their  health.  They  keep  the  Fasts  of  the  Church;  but 
their  mode  of  keeping  them  is  regulated  by  a  physician, 
and  is  not  so  strict  as  that  of  some  was  before  they  went 
there.  There  is  nothing  distinctive,  except  great  simplicity ; 
but  their  general  diet  was  regulated  by  the  same  kind  physi- 
cian." ^  His  chief  biographer  Liddon  asserts  that  Pusey 
was  not  a  rigourist  at  Park  Village  and  evidences  this  by 
the  letter  of  a  member.^ 

1  Ibid.,  pp.  23-24. 

2  Vide,  ch.  iv. 

3  The  Rev.  W.  G.  Cookesley,  in  A  Letter  to  His  Grace  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Dublin,  p.  12,  speaking  of  this  institution,  wrote:  "The 
rules  of  St.  Augustine  are  very  ascetic;  and  the  Superior  is  bound  by 
them  as  vvtW  as  the  Sisters,  and  though  she  is  called  'Mother,'  she  is 
really  only  'Sister  Superior.' " 

■*  Liddon,  op.  cit.,  iii,  27.  *  Ibid.,  pp.  27-28. 


Il8  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

Perhaps  the  best  indication  of  the  Sisterhood  life  is 
shown  by  the  daily  schedule : 

5  :oo  a.  m.  Rise. 

5:20-  6:15  Breviary  offices  of  Matins  and  Lauds. 

6:15-  6:45  Private  devotions. 

6 145-  7  :oo  Make  beds  and  clean  up  rooms. 

7  :oo-  7 130  Prime, 

7 130-  8  130  Service  in  Church. 

8:30-  8:55  Breakfast. 

^•55"  9*10  Terce. 

9:10-12:30  Visiting  the  Poor. 

12:30-  1:00  Repose. 

I  :oo-  1 :20  Sext  and  self-examination. 

1 :20-  3.00  Dinner  and  recreation. 

3  :oo-  5  :oo  Nones  and  visiting  the  poor. 

5  :oo-  6  :oo  Service  in  Church. 

6:00-  7:00  Vespers  and  devotions  on  the  Holy  Com- 
munion. 

7  :oo-  8  :oo  Supper  and  recreation. 

8  :oo-  9  :oo  Reading  religious  books. 

9:00-10:00     Compline,    self-examination,    and   private 

devotions. 
10  :oo  Retire  to  rest.^ 

The  progress  of  the  Sisterhood  was  not  without  opposi- 
tion. This  came  from  two  sources.  About  six  months 
after  its  opening,  the  poor  people  turned  against  the 
Sisters.  They  suspected  them  of  being  disguised  Roman 
Catholics.  The  people  ceased  to  attend  the  services  at 
Christ  Church.  Mr.  Dodsworth  grew  alarmed  and  wrote 
to  Pusey,  suggesting  a  change  in  the  Sister's  dress.^     Pusey 

^Ibid.,  p.  24. 

2  Trench,  Dr.  Pusey,  p.  274 ;  cf.  Liddon,  op.  cit.,  iii,  26. 


SISTERHOODS  ng 

did  not  think  favorably  of  yielding,  but  in  the  end  a  slight 
alteration  in  costume  was  made/  The  other  source  of  op- 
position was  the  episcopal  authority.  The  Rule  of  the 
Sisterhood  was  not  shown  to  the  Bishop  at  first,  for  they 
desired  to  wait  until  "trial  enough  had  been  made  of  the 
institution,  for  him  to  be  ready  to  take  it  up."  ^  The 
Bishop  had  allowed  the  plan  of  the  lay  committee  to  pro- 
ceed, as  has  been  seen,  but  he  was  more  or  less  afraid.  On 
April  28,  1845,  Dodsworth  wrote:  "The  Bishop  seems  as 
favorably  disposed  as  I  could  have  expected.  We  must 
try  to  strike  out  of  the  rules  what  would  offend  him,  so 
that  no  essential  point  is  sacrificed."  ^  The  point  to  which 
Bishop  Blomfield  seems  to  have  objected  was  the  type  of 
devotions.     In  1848,  Pusey  wrote: 

I  know  and  have  regretted  that  the  Bishop  of  London  disap- 
proved my  "adaptation"  of  Roman  books,  I  would  have 
altered  afiything  which  I  knew  his  Lordship  to  disapprove  of, 
as  departing,  if  he  so  thought,  from  the  English  Church.  But 
in  these  adaptations  I  admitted  whatever  I  believed  to  be  true, 
believing  it  also  not  to  be  contrary  to  the  teaching  of  the 
Church  of  England ;  in  the  Devotions  of  the  Sisters  there  is 
nothing  but  what  is  countenanced  and  sanctioned  in  principle 
by  the  Church  of  England.* 

Whether  Pusey  was  able  to  satisfy  the  Bishop  of  this, 
is  not  stated;  but  there  is  no  record  of  further  episcopal 
interference.  As  to  general  opposition  outside  of  these 
two  sources,  there  is  no  mention.  It  would  seem  that  the 
public  took  little  notice  of  this  institution,  perhaps  because 
the  inauguration  was  very  quiet  and  also  because  in  1845, 

^  Liddon,  op.  cit.,  iii,  27. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  22;  quoted  from  letter  by  Pusey  to  Mr.  A.  J.  B.  Hope, 
1848. 
3  Liddon,  op.  cit.,  iii,  23. 
*  Letter  to  A.  J.  B.  Hope,  in  Liddon,  op.  cit.,  iii,  26. 


I20  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

popular  attention  was  absorbed  by  Newman's  secession  to 
the  church  of  Rome.^ 

During  the  next  few  years  the  work  of  the  Sisterhood 
grew.  The  poor  were  visited,  a  Ragged  School  was 
started,  and  the  confidence  of  neighbors  was  secured.^ 
True  to  their  promise  the  lay  founders  planned  to  give  the 
Sisterhood  a  permanent  home.  Pusey  came  to  their  aid 
with  an  offer  of  £4000  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring  a  site 
and  erecting  a  building.^  This  house  was  erected  at 
Osnaburgh  Street,  being  the  first  one  built  for  an  Anglican 
Community.  "Building  operations  were  for  a  time  sus- 
pended, because  the  Government  was  not  able  to  decide 
whether  religious  houses  were  in  accordance  with  the  Eng- 
lish law ;  ultimately,  however,  the  Legislature  suffered  the 
work  to  proceed."  *  This  house  was  in  the  parish  of  St. 
Mary,  and  Mr.  Stuart  became  the  spiritual  head.^ 

The  establishment  was  soon  lost  sight  of  in  the  publicity 
given  to  other  similar  institutions.  "Presently  the  original 
Sisterhood  in  Park  Village  was  broken  up,  and  the  sur- 
viving members  of  it  joined  the  Devonport  Society"  of 
Miss  Sellon,  the  woman  whose  Sisterhood  was  to  be  for 
a  time  the  outstanding  example  of  the  whole  movement.^ 
Its  life  may  seem  short,  but  its  significance  is  considerable. 
It  furnishes  the  best  example  of  what  Pusey's  own  ideas  of 
a  Sisterhood  were.  It  was  an  experiment,  but  it  gave  a 
model  from  which  other  communities  were  to  take  sug- 
gestions. 

1  Liddon,  op.  cit.,  iii,  18. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  29. 

3  Russell,  Dr.  Pusey,  p.  59. 

*  Goodman,  Sisterhoods  in  the  Church  of  England  (London,  1863). 
Preface,  p.  6. 

5  Russell,  op.  cit.,  p.  59. 

6  Ibid.,  p.  81. 


SISTERHOODS  12 1 

SEC.   III.    SOCIETY  OF  THE  HOLY  TRINITY  OF  DEVONPORT 

On  January  i,  1848,  Dr.  Phillpotts,  the  Bishop  of  Exeter, 
made  an  unwonted  appeal,  through  the  columns  of  the 
Guardian,  for  the  poor  in  the  town  of  Devonport,  a  suburb 
of  Plymouth.  "The  ground,"  he  said,  "which  Devonport 
covers  is  probably  the  most  densely  populated  in  Eng- 
land." ^  The  rate  was  about  130,000  to  the  square  mile. 
There  was  a  need  of  four  large  parish  churches,  while  at 
that  time  there  was  "no  parochial  church  whatever;  the 
parish  church  (that  of  Stoke  Damerel)  being  at  some  dis- 
tance and  capable  of  containing  only  a  few  hundreds,  for 
it  has  never  been  enlarged  since  the  parish  ceased  to  be 
merely  rural  and  agricultural."  ^  For  this  needy  field  the 
Bishop  appealed  to  the  Christian  charity  of  England. 

Lydia  Sellon,  the  daughter  of  a  well-to-do  naval  officer, 
read  this  public  letter  and  decided  to  offer  her  services.^ 
She  had  already  visited  the  Sisterhood  at  Park  Village  and 
was  known  to  Pusey.*  He  counselled  Miss  Sellon  to  make 
Plymouth  and  Devonport  her  sphere  of  work,  watched  her 
labors  with  keenest  sympathy,  and  directed  largely  her 
course.^  Arriving  in  Devonport,  she  worked  alone  for 
about  four  months.*^  At  that  time  another  lady  came  to 
help  her,  and  later  three  or  four  more.  They  took  a  little 
house  in  Mitre  Place. ^  She  had  some  private  means,  and 
her  father,  who  had  consented  to  her  going,  went  down 

'^Guardian,  iii,  15  (1848). 
2  Ibid. 

^Guardian,  Feb.   14,  1849,  p.  112,  Letter  to  Rev.  John  Hatchard. 
^  Kelway,  George  Rundle  Prynne  (London,  1905),  p.  63. 
5  Russell,  op.  cit.,  p.  80. 

^Ludlow,  Woman's  Work  in  the  Church   (London,  1866),  p.  294  et 
seq.;  cf.  Guardian,  Feb.  14,  1849,  p.  112. 
^  Ludlow,  op.  cit.,  p.  295. 


122  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

later  and  bought  a  chapel  for  them  in  Morice-Town,  a 
section  of  Devonport.^ 

Her  work  was  at  first  chiefly  educational.  She  testified : 
"I  collected  the  children  myself  out  of  the  street."  ^  Thus 
three  schools  were  started,  one  of  boys  and  two  of  girls. 
The  "educational  work  soon  developed  into  something 
larger  and  deeper,  as  was  inevitable  in  a  district  devoid  of 
church  or  other  means  of  organization,  where  the  clergy 
could  scarcely  touch  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  5000  souls 
committed  to  their  care."  ^  The  extent  to  which  the  char- 
ity work  was  developed  may  be  seen  from  Miss  Sellon's 
testimony:  "We  receive  orphans  and  educate  them  our- 
selves; we  collect  schools  and  support  them;  we  visit  the 
sick  and  destitute  poor;  and  any  other  work  of  charity 
that  comes  under  our  notice  we  would  gladly  perform."  * 
Something  of  the  effect  of  this  broadening  work  was  shown 
in  St.  James'  District,  where  in  the  beginning  of  1848  there 
was  no  school  for  the  poor  and  only  one  licensed  place  of 
worship — a  room  over  a  beer  shop.  There  were  in  January, 
1849,  five  schools  open  in  which  about  five  hundred  chil- 
dren were  instructed,  and  a  Dissenting  chapel  had  been 
purchased,  which  held  about  seven  hundred.^  The  Or- 
phans' Home,  which  was  started,  received  the  support  of 
many  leading  people.^ 

So  well  did  the  work  succeed,  that  in  1849  by  Pusey's 
advice,  the  Sisters  were  formed  into  "The  Society  of  the 

1  Guardian,  Feb.  21,  1849,  p.  122. 

2  Ibid.,  Testimony  before  the  Bishop  of  Exeter. 

3  Kelway,  op.  cit.,  pp.  63-64. 
■*  Guardian,  Feb.  21,  1849. 

5  Guardian,  Jan.  17,  1849. 

^  Among  the  contributors  were  the  Queen  Dowager,  the  Bishop  of 
Exeter,  Lady  Manners,  Marchioness  of  Bath,  Sir  T.  D.  Acland,  Rev. 
Edw.  Bickersteth  and  others  prominent  in  church  and  society.  ("The 
Orphans'  Home" — Advertisement  in  the  Guardian,  Feb.  7,   1849). 


SISTERHOODS  '  1 23 

Holy  Trinity  of  Devonport."  According  to  their  leader, 
they  called  themselves  Sisters  of  Mercy  and  not  Sisters 
of  Charity,  because  the  latter  was  a  Roman  Catholic  order.^ 
Miss  Sellon  had  made  a  great  impression  on  Pusey.  He 
thought  she  might  become  a  kind  of  Superior-General  over 
all  the  Sisterhoods  in  the  Church  of  England.^  But  this 
hope  was  blighted  by  the  early  development  of  hostility 
to  the  Devonport  institution. 

In  1849  3-  storm  of  local  opposition  broke  forth.  In  this, 
certain  of  the  local  clergy  took  the  lead.  The  Rev*  John 
Hatchard  visited  the  institution,  corresponded  with  Miss 
Sellon  in  regard  to  certain  mooted  questions,  and  then  pub- 
lished their  correspondence.^  He  charged  her  with  being, 
if  not  Roman  Catholic,  at  least  Tractarian  ("of  whom 
about  200  have  become  Romanists")  and,  therefore,  tend- 
ing to  become  Roman  Catholic.  The  grounds  on  which 
he  made  this  charge  of  Romanism  were:  the  dress  of  the 
nuns,  the  name  'Sisters  of  Mercy,'  the  wearing  of  the  cross 
in  public,  etc.  The  Devonport  Telegraph  also  published 
charges  against  Miss  Sellon,  based  on  the  testimony  of 
three  inmates  of  the  Orphan's  Home.^. 

So  bitter  became  the  opposition  and  so  great  the  excite- 
ment, that  the  Bishop  of  Exeter  held  an  inquiry  on  Feb- 
ruary 15,  1849.  -^t  this  hearing  the  charges  enumerated 
against  the  Sisters  were :  the  wearing  of  the  cross,  the 
beads,  the  movable  cross,  the  services  in  the  Oratory,  the 
bowing  to  the  cross,  the  nun-like  hoods,  the  mutilated 
Bibles,  and  others  of  similar  nature.  In  defence.  Miss 
Sellon  reviewed  her  work  and  denied  the  charges  of  Ro- 

1  Guardian,  Feb.  21,  1849,  p.  122;  for  the  Rules  of  the  Sisterhood  vide 
Appendix,  iv. 

2  Russell,  op.  cit,  p.  81. 

3  Guardian,  Feb.  14,  1849. 
*  Ibid.,  Feb.  21,  1849. 


124 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


manism".  After  listening  to  the  charges  and  the  defence, 
the  bishop  said :  "If  there  have  been  some  things  which 
I  wish  had  not  been  adopted,  they  are  absolutely  over- 
powered by  the  cloud  of  virtues  and  graces  exemplified  in 
their  conduct."  ^  The  objectionable  features  in  his  opin- 
ion were  the  movable  cross,  the  flowers  in  the  oratory  and 
the  little  Romanist  touches.  But  he  expressed  his  great 
pleasure  that  the  Church  of  England  was  emulating  some 
of  the  good  features  of  Roman  Catholicism : 

I  rejoice  that  Miss  Sellon  knows  that  such  Sisterhoods  exist 
in  Protestant  countries  abroad.  I  had  heard  so  but  I  did  not 
inquire.  I  rejoice  that  there  is  established  in  England  a  Sis- 
terhood of  Mercy.  I  rejoice  to  thank  her,  as  a  member  of  the 
Church  of  England,  for  having  by  her  wonderful  exertions  res- 
cued in  part  her  Church  from  that  reproach  hitherto  very  fre- 
quently borne  against  her  by  the  Roman  Catholics,  viz.  that 
we  are  incapable  of  raising  among  our  women  anything  like 
that  spirit  of  love  which  has  exerted  itself  to  so  wonderful  a 
degree  in  many  instances  in  Roman  Catholic  countries.^ 

This  attitude  of  the  Bishop  was  shared  by  the  Morning 
Post,  the  Morning  Chronicle,  the  radical  Spectator  and  the 
Guardian.  The  Diocesan  Inspectors  of  Church  Schools 
had  also  borne  witness  to  the  orthodoxy  of  Miss  Sellon's 
instruction.^  A  committee  composed  of  the  Mayor  of 
Devonport  and  several  clergy  of  Stoke  Damerel  published 
a  testimonial  to  the  purity  of  their  teaching  and  the  value 
of  their  work : 

We  have  visited  this  establishment  and  have  fully  ascertained 
the  principles  on  which  it  is  conducted.  And  we  feel  bound 
to  state  our  conscientious  conviction  that  the  ladies  who  super- 
intend it  are  sincerely  attached  to  the  Church  of  England. 

1  Ibid. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  123. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  121. 


SISTERHOODS 


125 


They  devote  themselves  to  works  of  piety  and  charity.  They 
visit  the  sick  with  the  sanction  and  under  the  direction  of  the 
parochial  clergy.  We  are  also  prepared  to  assure  the  public 
that  the  books  used  in  the  instruction  of  the  children  are  from 
the  Hst  of  the  S.  P.  C.  K.^ 

The  episcopal  enquiry  seems  to  have  silenced  the  opposi- 
tion for  a  time  and  to  have  inaugurated  a  period  of  marked 
progress  for  the  Sisterhood.  The  Bishop  of  Exeter  became 
the  Visitor.  Miss  Sellon  began  to  receive  extensive  finan- 
cial aid."  The  public  interest  in  the  institution  was 
marked.^  Others  were  following  her  example,  as  for  in- 
stance, an  establishment  near  Fitzroy-Square.*  One  rea- 
son for  this  popularity  was  the  splendid  work  done  by  the 
Sisters  in  the  cholera  epidemic  of  1849.^  Whatever  the 
causes,  the  years  from  1849-52  showed  remarkable  growth. 
The  extent  of  the  social  work  March  20,  1852,  was  shown 
by  the  letter  of  a  neighboring  clergyman  to  the  Bishop  of 
Exeter.  The  works  enumerated  were:  (i)  Orphan's 
Home.  2^  children.  Elementary  branches  taught.  (2) 
College  for  Sailor  Boys,  26.  Elementary  branches  taught, 
(3)  House  of  Peace  for  destitute  girls,  12  inmates.  Re- 
ligious instruction  given.  Training  for  nurses  and  serv- 
ants. (4)  Home  for  Old  Sailors.  Four  men  and  one 
wife.  (5)  Industrial  School.  120  young  women.  (6) 
Houses  of  Hope,  150  to  160.     Lodging  houses  for  poor 

^  Signed :  John  Smith,  Mayor  of  Devonport ;  W.  J.  St.  Aubyn,  Rec- 
tor of  Stoke  Damerel;  Samuel  Dennis,  Curate  of  Stoke  Damerel;  J.  P, 
Oliver,  Ass't  Curate ;  John  Lampen,  Minister  of  St.  John  the  Baptist 
Chapel,  Devonport ;  Samuel  Rundle,  Minister  of  St.  Aubyn's  Chapel, 
Devonport  (Guardian,  Feb.  7,  1849). 

2  Guardian,  Mar.  14,  1849,  P-  ^77- 

^  Cf.  space  given  in  the  Guardian  during  1849. 

*  Guardian,  June  27th,  1849,  quoting  from  Spectator. 

^  Ludlow,  Woman's  Work,  etc.,  p.  295 ;  cf.  Guardian,  June  19,  1850, 
p.  442. 


126  'THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

families.  (7)  Lodging  houses  in  connection  with  the  In- 
dustrial School.  (8)  Day  Ragged  School.  Average  60 
to  70.  (9)  House  for  Destitute  children.  (10)  Soup- 
kitchens,  80  to  100  persons  fed  daily. ^ 

Not  content  with  the  work  at  Devonport,  the  Mother 
House  sent  out  branches.  An  idea  of  the  method  of  in- 
stituting branch  houses  may  be  seen  from  the  testimony  of 
an  ex-Sister.-  According  to  this  account,^  Miss  Sellon 
and  three  Sisters  went  to  Bristol.  They  dressed  as  poor 
women,  and  not  as  Sisters.  A  small  house  in  an  obscure 
court  was  taken  for  £12  a  year.  Since  the  Sisters  had 
to  do  all  the  housework  themselves,  they  took  kitchen  train- 
ing. After  a  short  time  Miss  Sellon  and  one  Sister  re- 
turned to  Devonport,  leaving  two  Sisters  to  handle  the 
work.  These  were  constantly  being  changed.  The  city 
of  Bristol  was  divided  into  two  districts,  one  for  each 
Sister.  After  thus  gaining  a  foothold  in  the  social  work 
and  the  public  confidence,  they  would  formally  set  up  a 
Sisterhood. 

This  period  of  remarkable  growth  was  interrupted  by 
another  serious  outbreak  of  opposition  in  1852.  It  was 
charged  that  Miss  Sellon's  Sisterhood  had  developed  more 
monastic  tendencies  since  its  origin.  The  two  chief 
grounds  of  attack  were  ( i )  the  inability  of  the  Sisters  to 
withdraw  at  will;  and  (2)  the  control  of  the  Sisters'  prop- 
erty. It  was  upon  these  grounds  that  the  Bishop  of 
Exeter  announced  his  withdrawal  as  Visitor.  As  to  the 
ability  of  a   Sister  to  withdraw,  the  original   Rule  had 

1  Letter  of  Geo.  R.  Prynne  to  Bishop  Exeter,  Appendix,  Mar.  20, 
1852,  p.  12  et  seg.  Cf.  Letter  of  Sister  Catherine  to  Rev.  E.  Coleridge, 
Jan.  14,  1852,  quoted  in  Colles,  Sisters  of  Mercy,  Sisters  of  Misery 
(London,  1852),  pp.  23-24. 

2  Spurrell,  Miss  Sellon  and  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  (London,  1852),  p. 
22  et  seq. 

3  Guardian,  Mar.  31,  1852,  p.  209. 


SISTERHOODS  1 27 

granted  "free  liberty  to  any  Sister  to  withdraw,  if  it  shall 
seem  good  to  her."  ^  But  Miss  Sellon,  in  her  reply  to 
the  attacks  of  the  Rev.  James  Spurrell,  had  spoken  of  the 
"sinfulness  of  looking  back"  in  any  one  who  "had  per- 
ceived this  calling,  and  who  after  due  trial  had  yet  re- 
tracted." "  Miss  Sellon's  father,  however,  denied  that  she 
ever  prevented  the  departure  of  Sisters.  She  had  written 
to  him  in  regard  to  one  whom  she  had  been  charged  with 
holding  against  her  will :  "There  was  nothing  to  prevent 
her  passing  out  of  the  house  unquestioned,  at  any  hour; 
there  are  no  bolts,  nor  bars,  nor  wardens,  and  each  Sister 
is  so  fully  employed  in  her  own  occupation,  that  none  would 
have  asked  her  errand.  Indeed  the  rule  is  not  to  do  so."  ^ 
In  these  charges  and  countercharges,  it  is  difficult  to  de- 
tect the  facts.  The  testimony  of  ex-Sisters  must  be  con- 
sidered with  a  certain  allowance  for  their  animosity. 
However,  the  Guardian,  although  friendly  to  Miss  Sellon's 
establishments,  accepts  these  charges  as  deserved.* 

As  to  the  other  ground  of  attack,  the  question  of  a 
Sister's  property,  the  original  rule  was,  "that  any  Sister 
so  withdrawing,  or  in  any  way  ceasing  to  be  a  member  of 
the  Society,  shall  be  entitled  to  her  own  personal  prop- 
erty; but  neither  she  nor  her  heirs  shall  be  entitled  to  any 
share  of  the  common  property  of  the  Society."  ^  But  in 
1852,  Miss  Sellon  in  replying  to  Spurrell,  wrote:  "What- 
ever is  kept  for  themselves  is  not  considered  as  their  own 

1  Phillpotts,  Letter  to  Miss  Sellon  (London,  1852),  p.  4  et  seq. 

^Ihid.,  p.  21. 

3  Sellon,  Miss  Sellon  and  the  Sisters  of  Mercy  (London,  1852),  4th 
ed.,  p.  3. 

*  Guardian,  Mar.  31,  1852,  p.  209.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  facts 
as  to  the  freedom  of  departure,  Miss  Sellon  admits  that  no  one  had  left 
after  becoming  a  Sister  and  only  four  before  their  veiling.  {Guardian, 
Jan.  15,  1851.) 

^  Phillpotts,  op.  cit.,  p.  5. 


128  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

but  as  belonging  to  the  community.  We  have  all  things 
in  common.  One  of  the  Sisters  who  is  treasurer  and  ac- 
countant keeps  all  the  money.  When  we  receive  money 
for  our  own,  we  also  put  it  in  her  hands,  unless  any  Sister 
thinks  it  her  duty  to  send  it  out  of  the  community  as  soon 
as  she  receives  it."  ^  While  Miss  Sellon,  writing  to  the 
Bishop  of  Exeter  in  1852,  says  that  a  Sister  is  free  to 
take  her  property  with  her,^  the  above  statement  would 
lead  to  the  belief  in  the  truth  of  Spurrell's  quotation  from 
their  Rule  of  Holy  Poverty :  "It  is  not  permitted  to  any 
Sister  to  appropriate  anything  however  small,  or  under 
whatever  pretext,  to  herself ;  since  each  shall  on  the  day  of 
the  entrance  renounce  in  favor  of  the  community,  not  only 
the  possession,  but  the  use  and  disposition  of  everything 
which  is  hers,  or  shall  be  given  to  her,  all  this  being  under 
the  entire  regulation  of  the  Superior  .  .  ."  ^ 

The  excesses  of  the  establishment  in  these  two  points  in- 
duced the  Bishop  of  Exeter  to  resign  as  Visitor,  but  he 
praised  the  work  and  wished  the  Sisterhood  to  continue. 
Along  other  lines,  however,  increased  monastic  tendencies 
were  noted,  and  the  critics  were  far  less  lenient  than  the 
Bishop.     One  objectionable  feature  was  the  exalted  claim 

1  Sellon,  Reply  to  a  Tract  by  the  Rev.  James  Spurrell  (London, 
1852),  p.  22. 

2  Guardian,  Mar.  31,  1852,  p.  207. 

3  Spurrell,  op.  cit.,  p.  i8 ;  cf.  Cookesley,  A  Letter  to  His  Grace,  the 
Archbishop  of  Dublin,  etc.,  p.  13. 

The  report  ran  through  London  society  that  Miss  Sellon  had  made  a 
Sister  sign  away  her  property.  Her  father  came  to  her  defence  with 
the  following  explanation :  "As  to  money,  I  may  assure  this  gentleman, 
that  no  lady  under  24  has  ever  presented  this  Institution  with  any 
money  out  of  the  principal  of  her  fortune.  Their  annual  incomes  (ac- 
cording to  regulations)  are  contributed  while  resident  to  the  support 
of  the  Sisterhood,  for  be  it  known,  the  whole  of  the  expenses  of  the 
Sisterhood  are  paid  out  of  these  private  resources,  which  admit  of 
contributions  also  toward  their  schools  and  charities."  Sellon,  op.  cit., 
p.  31- 


SISTERHOODS 


129 


of  obedience  made  by  the  Superior.  Cookesley,  taking  his 
evidence  from  ex-Sisters,  quotes  as  follows  from  the  "Holy 
Vow  of  Obedience" : 

Of  your  Rule  of  Holy  Obedience,  ye  who  have  offered  up  to 
God  your  judgment  and  your  will,  must  strive  to  preserve  you 
in  the  submission  ye  have  professed.  Actions,  in  themselves 
indifferent,  become  sanctified  when  done  in  the  spirit  of  holy 
obedience.  For  all  authority  descends  from  God  and  Superiors 
bear  the  image  of  the  divine  power  of  God,  which  he  vouch- 
safed to  imprint  on  them;  and  he  will  surely  require  it  at  your 
hands,  if  ye  despise  his  authority  in  them.^ 

The  Bishop  of  Exeter  thought  Miss  Sellon  had  gone  too 
far  in  this  regard,  coming  to  be  called  "Spiritual  Mother," 
"Mother  in  Christ,"  etc.^  In  reply  to  these  charges,  the 
lady  in  question  made  a  distinction  between  a  vow  of  obedi- 
ence and  a  promise  of  obedience.  In  regard  to  a  certain 
Sister  she  said :  "She  never  took  a  vow.  The  promise  of 
obedience  is  not  a  vow.  A  promise  is  exceedingly  sacred 
and  binding  as  far  as  it  goes;  but  a  promise  of  obedience 
to  myself  is  not  a  vow  to  God."  ^  However,  she  adds : 
"We  are  to  look  on  our  superiors  as  in  the  place  of 
Christ."  *  From  the  evidence  there  seems  little  doubt  that 
the  Sisterhood  had  advanced  far  beyond  its  original  ideas 
of  obedience. 

Another  Roman  Catholic  tendency  was  the  division  of 
the  Sisterhood  into  graded  orders.  Of  these  there  were 
three.  While  the  statements  ^  in  regard  to  these  are  some- 
what conflicting,  the  nature  of  them  is  quite  clear.  There 
was  an  "Order  of  the  Holy  Ghost"  or  "Grey  Sisters"  who 

1  Cookesley,  op.  cit.,  pp.  6-7. 

2  PhillpQtts,  A  Letter  to  Miss  Sellon,  p.  8. 

3  Sellon,  Reply  to  a  Tract  by  the  Rev.  J.  Spurrell,  p.  9. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  II. 

5  Spurrell,  op.  cit.,  pp.  13-16;  cf.  Sellon,  op.  cit.,  p.  7. 


I30 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


lived  in  the  world,  but  as  far  as  possible  according  to  the 
rules  of  the  community.  The  second  division  was  the 
"Black  Order,"  living  in  the  community,  entirely  under  the 
control  of  the  Superior,  and  engaged  in  the  social  work. 
Of  this,  one  critic  says:  "If  a  Sister  once  enters  the 
'Black  Order,'  as  it  is  called,  she  is  irrevocably  handed  over 
for  the  rest  of  her  life,  to  the  service  of  the  Lady  Su- 
perior." ^  The  third  order  is  the  "Order  of  the  Sacred 
Heart."  They  were  contemplative.  Of  them,  Miss  Sellon 
herself  writes:  "From  sickness  or  other  causes  they  are 
unable  to  undertake  laborious  work,  but  they  wish  to  live 
a  quiet  life  engaged  in  reading  and  prayer  and  such  occu- 
pations as  best  suit  their  health,  such  as  needlework,  writ- 
ing, etc."  ^  A  former  Sister  writes  that  the  Sisters  be- 
longing to  this  third  order  are  actually  termed  nuns  by 
the  other  Sisters,  that  they  are  strictly  "enclosed"  nuns, 
"whose  time  is  supposed  to  be  spent  in  almost  perpetual 
prayer  for  the  living  or  the  dead."  ^  This  order  was 
modeled  after  the  Poor  Clares  in  the  Roman  Church.^ 

Charges  of  Romanism  were  made  along  other  lines.  The 
most  important  of  these  were :  ( i )  Regular  confession  and 
absolution.^  This  attack  centered  around  George  R.  Prynne, 
who  was  charged  with  compelling  children  of  very  tender 
years  to  confess  privately  in  revolting  forms.  Bishop 
Phillpotts  called  a  hearing  September  22,  1852,  and  ex- 
onerated Prynne,  who  was  supported  by  Pusey  and  others.® 
(2)  Roman  Catholic  symbols  and  pictures.^     (3)  Prayers 

1  Cookesley,  op.  cit.,  p.  8. 

2  Sellon,  op.  citi,  p.  7. 

3  Goodman,  Sisterhods  in  the  Church  of  England,  p.  125. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  213. 

5  Cookesley,  op.  cit.,  p.  15;  cf.  Eardley,  The  Diocese  of  Exeter  (Lon- 
don, 1852),  p.  5. 

6  Kelway,  George  Rundle  Prynne,  p.  83  ct  seq. 
■^  Cookesley,  op.  cit.,  p.  16. 


SISTERHOODS  I31 

for  the  departed.^  (4)  The  common  use  of  the  Sarum 
Psalter,   and   on   special   occasions   the   Sarum   Breviary.^ 

(5)  Doctrine  of  "Infallibility"  as  held  by  the  Superior.^ 

(6)  Fasting  and  physical  austerities.* 

Another,  and  perhaps  the  most  peculiarly  monastic,  de- 
velopment of  the  Sisterhood  was  its  Romanistic  idea  of 
virginity.  One  sympathetic  critic  thought  the  cause  was 
the  lack  of  a  married  man  to  direct : 

Left  to  the  direction  of  an  unmarried  woman,  it  seems  abso- 
lutely impossible  that  they  should  not  gradually  merge  into 
ascetic  celibacy — Romish  celibacy  .  .  .  ,  which  sooner  or 
later  only  sustains  itself  by  the  polygamous  figment  of  a  spe- 
cial union  of  the  individual  Sisters  with  Christ.  I  can  see 
the  germ  of  this  feeling  already  in  those  words  of  one  of 
Miss  Sellon's  letters,  "Called  to  a  close  union  with  the  Be- 
loved, the  chief  among  ten  thousand,  you  may  not  adorn 
yourself  for  other  eyes."  ^ 

Miss  Goodman,  a  former  Sister,  attributed  these  mo- 
nastic developments  to  "a  certain  lady  of  high  standing" 
who  joined  the  community.  She  was  a  woman  of  showy 
attainments,  and  fantastic  mediaeval  ideas,  derived  from 
reading  the  saints  of  old.** 

So  severe  became  the  criticism  of  Miss  Sellon's  institu- 
tion that  Pusey  disclaimed  official  connection  with  it. 
Writing  to  Keble,  September,  1869,  he  said:  "I  am  not 
sure  from  what  you  kindly  write  .  .  .,  whether  you  do  not 
think  that  I  have  some  office  as  to  the   Devonport   So- 

1  Ibid.,  pp.  16-17. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  18. 
^Ibid.,  p.  18 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  8-9. 

^Ludlow,  Woman's  Work  in  the  Church,  p.  301. 
*■  Goodman,  Experiences  of  an  English  Sister  of  Mercy,  quoted  in 
Russell,  Dr.  Pusey,  pp.  79-80. 


132  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

ciety,  ...  At  Devonport  I  have  never  had  any  office."  ^ 
Although  Pusey  may  have  held  no  constitutional  office  in 
the  society,  he  was  a  frequent  visitor.^  His  aid  and  coun- 
sel in  the  early  days  of  the  community  have  been  seen. 
According  to  the  testimony  of  the  orphans  and  the  ex- 
Sisters,  he  acted  as  confessor  to  Miss  Sellon  ^  and  to  many 
of  the  Sisters.  "He  receives  vows  of  celibacy  from  some 
of  his  spiritual  children ;  .  .  .  and  in  receiving  those  vows, 
he  is  only  repeating  that  conduct  at  Devonport  which  he 
notoriously  practices  elsewhere."  *  This  statement  of  his 
critic  is  given  further  credence  by  Pusey's  defence  of 
Prynne  when  charged  with  requiring  confession.  Pusey 
wrote  to  Prynne,  "It  is  all  our  cause."  ^  While  Pusey  may 
not  have  approved  all  Miss  Sellon's  extravagant  ideas,  his 
general  support  of,  and  intimate  connection  with,  the  Sister- 
hood, even  to  his  death,  is  an  undoubted  fact. 

The  attack  on  Miss  Sellon's  society  aroused  wide  public 
interest.  Sir  William  S.  Harris  wrote :  "I  have  observed 
in  passing  the  shop  windows  redolent  with  announcements 
of  controversial  tracts  on  this  question."  '^  This  publicity 
probably  helped  to  spread  the  Sisterhood  idea.  At  least 
it  did  not  kill  Miss  Sellon's  institution.  A  number  of  the 
Sisters  at  Devonport  accompanied  Florence  Nightingale  to 
the  Crimea.^  One  of  these,  Margaret  Goodman,  found  on 
her  return  that  the  monastic  tendencies  had  developed  so 
far  that  it  was  impossible  for  her  to  remain  a  member.^ 

1  Trench,  The  Story  of  Dr.  Pusey's  Life  (London,  1900),  p.  278. 

2  Cookesley,  op.  cit.,  p.  14. 

3  Cookesley,  op.  cit.,  p.  14 ;  cf.  Spurrell,  Miss  Sellon  and  the  Sisters 
of  Mercy,  p.  23. 

*  Cookesley,  op.  cit.,  p.  14. 

5  Kelway,  op.  cit.,  p.  87. 

6  Guardian,  April  7,  1852,  p.  227. 

■^  Dock,  A  History  of  Nursing,  ii,  278. 

8  Chronicle  of  Convocation,  1861-1863,  p.  965.  Speech  of  the  Bishop 
of  Llandaff. 


SISTERHOODS  1 33 

Yet  the  Sisterhood  continued  to  grow  and  spread.  The 
Mother  House  now  forms  a  stately  pile  of  buildings,  called 
generally  "The  Abbey,"  and  is  the  property  of  the  Society 
of  the  Holy  Trinity,  commonly  known  as  the  Ascot  Sister- 
hood.^ 

From  the  standpoint  of  social  work  the  Sisterhood 
merited  praise,  in  spite  of  its  monastic  excesses.  "It  is 
perhaps  true,  however,  that  some  of  the  ceremonials  in- 
stituted by  Miss  Sellon  and  Dr.  Pusey  lent  themselves 
easily  to  the  ridicule  of  the  irreverent.  Nevertheless  the 
exquisitely  refining  influence  of  the  Sister's  atmosphere 
should  not  be  forgotten  by  critics,  for  this  must  remain 
as  their  most  precious  contribution  to  the  social  life  around 
them.  The  love  of  beauty,  with  the  consistent  determina- 
tion to  bring  it  into  the  lives  of  the  people,  and  a  sensitive 
consideration  for  the  feelings  of  the  poor,  were  abiding 
principles  with  Miss  Sellon,  and  so  sordid  and  hideous 
appears  to  have  been  the  lot  of  the  poor  by  whom  she  was 
surrounded  that  this  should  ever  be  remembered  of  her 
gratefully."  ' 

SEC.   IV.    SOCIETY  OF  ST.   JOHN  THE  BAPTIST 

The  work  of  Miss  Sellon  had  its  origin  in  the  necessity 
of  educating  the  poor.  There  was  at  this  time  another 
social  need  attracting  the  attention  of  the  church.  This 
was  the  condition  of  the  prostitutes,  or  fallen  women.  The 
Rev.  John  Armstrong  seems  to  have  been  the  originator 
of  the  Church  Penitentiary  movement.^  He  sought  to 
enlist  public  interest  by  articles  in  the  Quarterly  Review, 
September,  1848,  in  the  Christian  Remembrancer,  January, 

1  Kelway,  op.  cit.,  p.  65. 

2  Dock,  A  History  of  Nursing,  ii,  p.  79. 

3  Carter,  Life  and  Letters,  ed.  by  W.  H.  Hutchings   (London,  1903), 
p.  80. 


134 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


1849,  ^"<^  i^  the  English  Review,  March,  1849.^  Arch- 
deacon Manning's  sermons,  entitled  "Saints  and  Penitents," 
also  gave  an  impulse  to  the  movement ;  ^  v^hile  Mr,  R.  Brett 
had  a  plan  for  a  penitentiary  in  charge  of  a  Warden,  Sub- 
Warden  and  Sisters.^  But  the  man  who  carried  the  peni- 
tentiary system  out  into  practice  on  a  large  scale  and  con- 
nected it  with  the  Sisterhood  movement  was  Thomas  Thel- 
lusson  Carter. 

While  Armstrong  was  making  his  appeal  for  public  sup- 
port, the  Houses  of  Mercy  at  Clewer  and  Wantage  arose 
independently  of  his  plans  and  consultation,  the  former 
opening  in  June,  1849,  and  the  latter  in  the  autumn  of  the 
same  year.^  The  former  is  of  interest  in  this  story  for 
it  was  here  that  Carter  worked  and  it  was  at  this  house 
that  he  began  his  Sisterhood. 

Carter  was  the  rector  of  Clewer,  and  his  curate  was  the 
Rev.  C.  Wellington  Johnson.  In  that  parish  was  a  most 
miserable  district,  known  as  Clewer  St.  Stephens  and  one  of 
the  worst  social  problems  of  this  district  was  that  of  the 
abandoned  women. ^  "Through  the  influence  of  the  widow 
of  a  clergyman,  Mrs.  Tennant,  and  the  zeal  of  Mr.  Welling- 
ton Johnson  (afterwards  Archdeacon  Furse)  a  few  fallen 
women  had  been  drawn  to  give  up  evil  ways,  and  through 
her  great  kindness  had  found  a  temporary  abode  in  Mrs. 
Tennant's  house.  These  formed  a  nucleus  and  others 
gathered  around  them.  Thus  began  the  pentitentiary  work 
at  Clewer."  Mrs.  Tennant  had  been  the  keeper  of  a  school 
and  hence  her  house  was  better  adapted  to  such  a  work  than 

1  Carter,  A  Memoir  of  John  Armstrong  (Oxford,  1857),  pp.  233-234. 

-  Carter,  op.  cit.,  p.  80. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  214. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  237. 

5  Carter,  Life  of  Harriet  Monsell  (London,  1884),  p.  30. 

^  Carter,  Life  and  Letters,  pp.  82-83. 


SISTERHOODS 


135 


many  others.  On  June  29,  1849,  two  prostitutes  took  up 
their  abode,  and  on  the  next  day  four  more.  Within  four 
months,  eighteen  were  housed  there. ^  The  first  plan  was  to 
hold  them  only  temporarily,  but  soon  the  idea  of  a  perman- 
ent house  arose.  In  February,  1851  Mrs.  Tennant  was 
forced  by  poor  health  to  give  up  her  part  in  the  work.^ 

The  House  of  Mercy  was  now  established,  but  the  ques- 
tion of  workers  was  much  under  consideration.  Armstrong 
at  first  had  preferred  widows  to  unmarried  women  as 
workers  among  these  fallen  women.^  Carter,  however,  felt 
that  a  Sisterhood,  regulated  by  the  rules  of  a  religious  life, 
was  the  only  efficient  agency.^  His  reasons  are  well  stated 
by  him  as  follows : 

Sisterhoods,  or  the  system  of  religious  communities,  were  a 
legitimate  and  necessary,  but  yet  a  developed,  advance  upon 
the  first  simple  theory  (of  penitentiary  work).  It  is  mani- 
festly impossible  for  ladies  to  bear  the  burden  of  such  works 
single-handed.  Moreover,  where  even  a  few  are  constantly 
working  together,  some  order  is  requisite  to  give  unity  and 
power  to  the  work.  There  must  be  constituted  authority  and 
fixed  rule,  and  this  according  to  some  church  form.^ 

Thus  the  Sisterhood  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  social 
need ;  and  yet  the  pentitentiary  work  was  the  occasion  rather 
than  the  cause  of  the  Sisterhood.  Carter  had  felt  the  desire 
for  some  time  of  reviving  conventual  life.  "In  the  manu- 
script notes  which  Mr.  Carter  left  for  his  children,  he  writes 
that  he  'had  long  dreamed  of  having  a  share  in  some  way  in 
the  restoration  of  Religious  Communities,  an  idea,  I  fancy, 

1  Carter,  Life  of  Harriet  Monsell,  pp.  30-31. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  32. 

^  Carter,  A  Memoir  of  John  Armstrong,  p.  221. 

*  Armstrong,  Appeal  for  the   Formation   of  a   Church   Penitentiary 
(London,  1849),  Appendix  by  T.  T.  Carter,  p.  15. 
s  Carter,  A  Memoir  of  John  Armstrong,  p.  246. 


136 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


first  started  in  my  mind  from  some  remarks  of  Southey 
in  his  'Book  of  the  Church,'  in  which  he  expressed  his  hope 
of  their  revival.'  "  ^  With  this  idea  in  his  mind,  Carter 
added  several  new  features  to  the  penitentiary  movement 
as  begun  by  Armstrong.  Among  these  were :  ( i )  Volun- 
tary confession;  (2)  Sisterhoods  to  care  for  the  penitents; 
(3)  Opportunity  for  a  Magdalen  career,  although  not  as  a 
full  Sister;  (4)  Reception  of  lady  penitents,  who  were  kept 
separate  but  under  the  same  rule." 

The  development  of  a  Sisterhood  at  the  Clewer  House 
of  Mercy  came  about  rather  indirectly.  In  1851  the  Rev. 
Charles  A.  Harris  came  to  give  all  his  attention  to  the  peni- 
tentiary work  tliere.^  He  had  married  a  sister  of  Harriet 
Monsell,  who  came  to  live  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harris.  The 
idea  of  a  Sister's  life  attracted  her  and  she  formally  devoted 
herself  to  it  on  May  29,  1851.*  She  became  a  household 
member  of  the  House  of  Mercy  in  1852  and  in  the  summer 
of  that  year,  two  other  ladies  joined  her  in  the  religious  life.^ 
Mrs.  Monsell  was  formally  professed  as  a  Sister  and  in- 
stalled as  Superior  on  St.  Andrew's  Day,  1852.^  She  was 
of  a  practical  and  motherly  type,  quite  different  from  the 
common  idea  of  a  Roman  Catholic  Superior.  It  is  inter- 
esting therefore  to  note  her  conception  of  a  Sister's  life: 
I  suppose  the  Sisters  must  always  be  ready  to  leave  God  for 
God  (as  they  say)  to  leave  God  in  devotion  to  work  for  God 
in  those   for  whom  He  shed  His  blood ;  or  rather  bearing 

1  Carter,  J.  F.  M.,  Life  and  Work  of  the  Rev.  T.  T.  Carter  (London, 
1911),  p.  102.  Another  evidence  of  Southey's  influence  in  the  revival 
of  monastic  life  among  women.  Carter's  close  connection  with  Pusey 
and  the  Tractarians  is  also  shown  by  his  letters,  vide,  Life  and  Letters, 
pp.  21-25. 

2  Carter,  Life  and  Letters,  pp.  83-86. 

3  Carter,  Life  of  Harriet  Monsell,  p.  35. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  40. 

'^  Ibid.,  p.  37. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  40. 


SISTERHOODS  1 37 

God  about  them,  to  be  ready  to  use  broken  prayers  for  them- 
selves and  for  them.  I  don't  think  that  Martha's  work  will 
hurt  Mary's  contemplation  in  this  life,  so  that  both  are  really 
about  our  Lord.^ 

This  idea  of  combining  the  active  and  the  contemplative 
life  in  the  religious  community  was  shared  by  Carter.  His 
conception  of  a  Sister's  life  is  well  shown  in  the  Constitu- 
tions of  the  community : 

The  community  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  is  instituted  for  the 
promotion  of  the  honor  and  worship  due  to  Almighty  God, 
for  the  cultivation  of  the  counsels  and  graces  which  He  has 
taught  as  the  way  of  perfection,  and  for  active  service  both  in 
spiritual  and  corporal  works  of  mercy.  The  Sisters  volun- 
tarily offer  themselves  to  Almighty  God  that  through  the  sac- 
ramental power  of  a  life  thus  dedicated  to  Him  in  poverty, 
chastity  and  obedience,  they  may  in  lowliness,  detachment  and 
hiddenness  of  heart,  cherish  Christ  in  themselves  and  reveal 
Him  to  others  after  the  example  of  St.  John  the  Baptist.  .  .  .^ 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  Carter  desired  a  more  practical  and  less 
contemplative  life  than  did  Pusey.^  He  did  not  turn  to 
foreign  ideals,  but  aimed  to  appreciate  the  English  character. 
Yet  he  had  great  admiration  for  the  Saints ;  *  and  his 
emphasis  on  the  regard  for  these,  together  with  his  care  for 
the  Sisters'  books  of  spiritual  instructions,^  lends  some 
credence  to  the  statement  of  a  very  moderate  critic  that  "the 
first  object  (of  the  Sisterhood)  is  not  charity  but  devotion 
— devotion  kept  alive  by  external  aids  in  the  performance  of 
infinite  and  infinitesimal  minutiae."  *^ 

1  Ibid.,  p.  58. 

2  Quoted  in  Carter,  Life  and  Letters,  p.  loi. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  103. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  104. 

^  Cf.  Spiritual  directions  and  books  to  be  used,  ibid.,  pp.  124-125. 
^Wister,  Sarah  B.,  in  Lippincott's  Magazine,  ix,  570  (1872). 


138  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

A  comprehensive  and  natural  view  of  the  nature  of  a 
Sisterhood  was  given  by  Carter  at  the  Church  Congress  at 
Stoke-on-Trent,  1875.     It  is  as  follows: 

A  Sisterhood,  as  distinguished  from  other  kinds  of  associated 
communities  of  women,  implies  a  vocation  to  live  and  work 
wholly  and  undividedly  for  God,  as  a  permanent  state;  an 
aptitude  for  devotion  and  useful  service;  a  religious  rule;  fel- 
lowship in  prayer  and  work  binding  all  together;  a  gradation 
of  offices  with  recognized  authority ;  rights  and  customs  care- 
fully guarded;  and  a  systematic  way  of  adapting  the  capaci- 
ties and  dispositions  of  the  different  members  of  the  com- 
munity to  the  necessities  of  the  work  undertaken.  The  or- 
ganization becomes  complete  when  through  the  Bishop's  sanc- 
tion the  seal  of  the  blessing  of  the  Church  is  set  upon  it.^ 

With  this  comprehensive  definition  of  a  Sisterhood  set 
forth,  it  is  well  to  see  how  Carter's  plan  worked  out  in 
certain  specific  lines.  In  regard  to  virginity,  he  went  back 
to  Christ  ^  and  to  St.  Paul  ^  for  his  authority  in  maintain- 
ing it  as  a  higher  life  for  those  who  can  bear  it.  After 
twenty-five  years'  experience  in  Sisterhood  work,  he  wrote : 
"The  virgin  life  is  not  instituted,  indeed,  like  marriage,  as 
a  law  of  nature,  to  be  sanctified  by  grace ;  but  it  is  announced 
as  a  special  gift  of  grace,  to  be  impressed  upon  nature,  in 
those  who  are  able  to  receive  it."  *  Carter  accepted  a 
modification  of  the  Roman  Catholic  idea  of  the  Sister  as  the 
"Bride  of  Christ."  "  Tn  the  Sisterhood  life  there  is  an 
accentuating  of  the  calling  which  in  truth  belongs  to  the 
whole  church,  to  be  the  "Bride  of  Christ."  '  "  ^     The  chas- 

1  Quoted  in  Carter,  Life  and  Letters,  p.  102. 

2  Matt.  19:12. 

3  I  Cor.,  7. 

^Carter,  Life  and  Letters,  pp.  iio-iii.  Quoted  from  Are  Vows  of 
Celibacy  in  Early  Life  Inconsistent  with  the  Word  of  God?  1878. 

<*  Carter,  Life  of  Harriet  Monsell,  Introd.,  p.  12.  Quoting  from 
Webb,  Sisterhood  Life  and  Woman's  Work,  pp.  64-65. 


SISTERHOODS 


139 


tity  of  the  Sisters  was  carefully  guarded.  Visits  of  relatives 
were  permitted  at  any  time,  but  "the  visits  of  other  friends 
and  the  time  of  such  visits  must  be  previously  approved  by 
the  Superior."  ^  Moreover,  "the  Sisters  shall  not  speak  to 
the  penitents  nor  allow  the  penitents  to  speak  to  them  con- 
cerning their  former  sins."  ^ 

As  to  poverty,  another  essential  mark  of  the  monastic 
state,  "in  the  Clewer  Community,  it  is  understood  to  mean 
the  entire  surrender  of  all  that  may  be  possessed,  so  that 
a  Sister  should  have  no  longer  any  property  whatever  at  her 
own  disposal,  for  purposes  of  personal  use  or  enjoyment. 
She  may  be  possessed  of  capital,  but  the  annual  proceeds 
must  be  given  either  to  the  Community  Fund  or  to  objects 
external  to  the  Community,  according  to  the  agreement 
made  with  the  Warden  and  Superior  at  the  time  of  her 
Profession.^  This  statement  is  confirmed  by  the  testimony 
of  G.  E.  Freeman,  the  Solicitor  of  the  Society,  before  the 
Parliamentary  commission.  He  said  that  the  Sisters  could 
hold  no  property,  a  regulation  equivalent  to  a  vow  of  pov- 
erty, but  that  "the  Sisters  take  no  life  vows."  *  Each  Sister 
Ts  supposed  to  contribute  to  the  Sisterhood  the  equivalent  of 
£50  a  year  if  able.  Sisters  can  not  take  away  any  property 
they  bring  in,  for  it  would  be  all  spent.^  A  council  of 
finance  for  the  Sisterhood,  composed  of  the  Superior,  As- 
sistant Superior,  and  five  Sisters  elected  annually,  have  full 
control  of  the  money  and  expenditures.^  Precautions  are 
taken  to  prevent  the  charge  of  inducing  Sisters  to  give  up 
their  property,  so  frequently  made  against  Miss  Sellon's 
Sisterhood  and  Roman  Catholic  orders.     Rule  17  reads: 

1  Rule  52,  quoted  in  Parliamentary  Report,  1870,  vi'i,  p.  227. 

2  Rule  56,  quoted,  ibid.,  p.  228. 

3  Carter,  Life  and  Work  of  T.  T.  Carter,  pp.  108-109. 
*  Parliamentary  Report,  1870,  vii,  190. 

s  Ibid.,  p.  192. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  190. 


I40  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

In  the  event  of  any  Sister  desiring  to  give  or  bequeath  any 
property  to  the  community,  or  any  of  its  houses,  she  shall 
satisfy  the  Visitor  that  she  has  informed  the  next  of  kin,  or 
the  next  in  degree,  if  more  than  one  (or  give  to  the  Visitor  a 
sufficient  reason  for  her  not  having  done  so)  of  her  inten- 
tion, that  any  objections  on  their  part  may  be  duly  considered, 
and  that  they  may  have  opportunity  of  laying  such  objections 
before  the  Visitor.^ 

A  third,  and  perhaps  the  most  mooted,  question  v^as  that 
of  vows.  "When  the  Clewer  Rule  was  formed  the  bishop 
(Wilberforce)  insisted  on  its  being  inserted  in  the  forefront 
that  the  Community  was  formed  without  vows.  It  was 
not  long  before  Sisters  came  who  desired  vows,  in  the  con- 
sciousness that  they  would  be  a  support  to  their  life  and  true 
expression  of  their  religious  vocation.  As  soon  as  these 
cases  occurred,  the  bishop  was  consulted."  ^  Carter  said : 
"I  see  no  reason  to  refuse  them,"  and  added,  "the  bishop 
left  me  free  to  do  as  I  thought  well."  Hence  "they  were 
commonly  taken  as  a  matter  of  free  allowance,  and  the 
bishop  knew  it  and  left  the  matter  thus  free."  ^  Later 
Bishop  Stubbs  allowed  it  to  be  inserted  in  the  Rule  that 
vows  are  taken.^  Sarah  B.  Wister  says  that  on  her  visit 
she  learned  that  vows  were  taken  for  life."^  There  are  con- 
flicting statements,  however,  in  regard  to  the  taking  of 
vows.  Freeman,  the  solicitor,  testified :  "The  Sisters  take 
no  vows.  I  do  not  know  whether  they  feel  that  they  would 
be  at  liberty  to  withdraw  whenever  they  chose."  ^  And 
later  he  qualified  this  statement,  thus :  "When  I  say  there 
are  no  vows,  I  should  probably  say  that  there  are  no  life 

^  Ibid.,  p.  226. 

2  Carter,  Life  and  Letters,  pp.  108-109. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  109. 

*  Ibid. 

^  Lippincott's  Magazine,  ix,  568  (1872). 

^Parliamentary  Report,  vii,  p.  192  (1870). 


SISTERHOODS 


141 


vows;  that  any  Sister  is  at  liberty  to  leave  the  institution 
at  any  time."  ^  But  he  does  not  know  of  any  instance  of 
a  withdrawal.  The  best  explanation  of  these  conflicting 
testimonies  seems  to  be  that  while  no  vows  were  required, 
their  equivalent  was  really  understood.  This  conception  of 
a  perpetual  state  equivalent  to  a  life  under  vows,  is  implied 
in  the  Rules  as  quoted  by  Freeman :  "The  Sisterhood  is 
formed  without  vows,  for  the  observance  of  the  rules  of 
poverty,  chastity  and  obedience,  in  which  state  of  life  the 
Sisters  offer  themselves  perpetually  to  God  to  live  alone  for 
his  glory,  in  the  love  of  Christ,  and  to  serve  him  in  the 
persons  of  his  poor  and  suffering  ones."  ^  Whether  vows 
were  actually  taken,  there  is  no  doubt  that,  in  Carter's 
mind,^  the  Sister  made  her  profession  for  life.  The  ques- 
tion of  vows,  therefore,  seemed  to  him  more  or  less  super- 
fluous.    In  later  years  he  wrote : 

Much  has  been  said  of  late,  and  much  that  I  can  not  but 
deem  needlessly  alarming  and  unreasonable,  on  the  vexed 
question  of  vows.  At  the  late  Reading  Congress,  at  the  end 
of  the  morning's  debate  on  the  comparative  merits  of  the  Sis- 
terhood and  Deaconess  principles,  it  was  generally  felt  that 
they  agreed  in  representing  the  self-devotion  intended  in  either 
state  as  life-long.  And  a  vow  is  but  the  outward  expression 
of  a  life-long  devotion.  It  simply  implies  a  vocation  of  God, 
in  which  one  so  called  should  abide  with  Him  to  the  end.* 

The  organization  of  this  Sisterhood  was  regarded  as 
more  or  less  a  model  for  Anglican  conventual  institutions.^ 

^  Ibid.,  p.  194.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  224. 

3  "It  has  always  been  the  feeling  of  the  Sisters  that  their  purpose  and 
conviction  is  a  life-long  dedication  of  themselves.  .  .  .  They  assume  it 
as  a  preliminary;  that  if  thought  worthy  to  be  a  Sister  at  all,  it  must 
be  for  life."  Letter  of  Carter,  Jan.  2,  1863,  in  Carter,  Life  and  Letters, 
p.  104. 

4  Carter,  Life  of  Harriet  Monsell,  Introd.,  pp.  12-13. 

5  Wister,  Lippincott's  Magazine,  ix,  565  (1872). 


142 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


Some  of  its  features  are  therefore  worthy  of  notice.  There 
were  two  orders  of  Sisters — the  first  order  was  divided 
into  two  classes.  The  postulancy  lasted  six  months;  the 
noviciate,  two  years  for  the  first  class  and  four  years  for 
the  second  class,  after  which  the  member  was  in  full  fellow- 
ship and  was  called  a  "confirmed  Sister."  ^  The  second 
order  consisted  of  those  who  do  not  live  entirely  in  the  com- 
munity. While  there,  they  conformed  to  all  the  rules; 
while  at  home,  they  conformed  their  dress  and  mode  of  life 
to  their  special  profession.^  There  were  also  Sisters  As- 
sociate, single  women  not  in  the  community,  who  devoted 
themselves  to  live  by  the  same  rule  so  far  as  possible. 
There  were  other  Associates,  ladies  in  their  own  homes 
aiding  by  prayers  and  funds.  Another  feature  was  the 
entrance  requirements.  Sisters  could  not  join  until  30 
years  of  age  without  the  consent  of  their  parents.  In  1870 
Freeman  testified :  "There  are  old  and  young,  but  most 
of  the  old  ones  have  been  there  a  good  many  years."  ^ 
Sisters  were  required  to  be  members  of  the  Church  of 
England.*  At  time  of  Profession,  the  members  made 
known  their  adherence  by  declaration  and  by  signature.^ 

As  in  other  Anglican  Sisterhoods,  care  was  taken  to 
keep  in  harmony  with  the  Church.  The  Bishop  of  Oxford 
was  Visitor  and  approved  the  rules.®  If  the  bishop  should 
refuse  at  any  time,  some  other  Visitor  was  to  be  appointed. 
The  government  of  the  Sisterhood  was  kept  separate  from 
that  of  the  House  of  Mercy  and  under  a  different  board  of 
trustees.     The  trustees  of  the  former  were  the  Warden,  the 

1  Ibid.  p.  567.    Cf.  Parliamentary  Report,  1870,  vii,  189. 

2  Parliamentary  Report,  1870,  vii,  189. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  192. 

*  Wister,  in  Lippincott's  Magazine,  ix,  568. 
5  Parliamentary  Report,  1870,  vii,  193. 
^Ibid.,  p.  189. 


SISTERHOODS  1 43 

Superior  and  the  Treasurer.^  The  first  Warden  was  T. 
T.  Carter,  and  the  sub-deacon  in  1870  was  the  Rev.  WilHam 
Henry  Hutchings,  his  biographer.^ 

The  devotional  Hfe  of  the  Sisters  was  carefully  superin- 
tended by  the  Warden.  Accordingly  to  Rule  33,  the  re- 
ligious books  and  habits  of  devotion  were  to  be  such  only 
as  prescribed  by  him.^  Holy  Communion  was  celebrated 
daily.*  The  Sisterhood  performed  no  religious  offices  in 
connection  with  the  patients  in  the  hospital.  The  Warden 
attended  to  these  religious  duties.  The  Sisters  worked 
among  the  poor  as  religious  people  under  the  direction  of 
the  clergy  of  the  parish.  They  visited  people  of  every 
faith.^  Sisters  attended  usually  the  private  chapel  which 
Freeman  thought  had  not  been  consecrated  legally.*' 

The  growth  of  the  Sisterhood  has  been  a  good  proof  of 
its  splendid  organization.  In  1870  the  attorney  for  the 
Society  said  there  were  about  80  Sisters,  of  whom  about 
20  lived  in  the  House  of  Mercy  at  Clewer.'^  Branch  houses 
have  been  established  in  many  cities  throughout  England,  in 
the  United  States  and  elsewhere.^  Harriet  Monsell  re- 
mained as  Superior  until  1876  and  Carter  as  Warden  until 
1902.  To  the  ideals  and  the  work  of  these  two  persons, 
therefore,  the  Sisterhood  is  indebted  for  its  character  and 
its  development.  Judged  by  its  growth  and  social  work,  it 
is  perhaps  deserving  of  Sarah  B.  Wister's  comment: 
"Among  the  numerous  communities,  that  of  Clewer  is  uni- 
versally spoken  of  as  the  most  successful  example  of  an 
Anglican  Sisterhood;  great  praise  is  given  to  its  hospitals 

^  Ibid.,  p.  190.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  191. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  193.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  192. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  227.  ''  Ihid.,  p.  189. 

4  Rule  29.    Ibid.,  p.  227. 

8  Carter,  Life  of  Harriet  Monsell,  pp.  124-127.  Cf.  Rich,  L.  C,  in 
The  Churchman,  July  6,  1907 ;  cf.  Carter,  Life  and  Letters,  pp.  85-98. 


144 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


and  the  nursing  of  its  Sisters,  even  by  those  who  do  not 
think  well  of  the  mode  of  life."  ^ 

SEC.  V.  ST.  Margaret's  sisterhood,     east  grinstead 

One  other  Sisterhood  will  be  treated  here  because  it  was 
called  forth  by  a  new  type  of  social  work.  Pusey  at  Park 
Village  began  with  the  pretense  at  least  of  general  slum 
work;  Miss  Sellon  at  Devonport,  with  the  education  of  the 
poor;  and  Carter  at  Clewer,  with  the  redemption  of  the 
prostitutes.  Another  specialized  social  work,  which  has 
been  perhaps  more  distinctively  the  Sisters'  field,  was  that 
of  nursing.  It  was  the  need  of  nurses  that  gave  John  Mason 
Neale  the  plan  of  his  Sisterhood.  On  Feb.  i,  1855,  he 
wrote : 

You  know  that  five  or  six  years  ago,  it  was  a  favorite  spec- 
ulation of  mine,  how  it  would  be  possible  even  to  get  at  the 
scattered  collection  of  houses  in  our  great  Sussex  parishes,  so 
as  positively  to  evangelize  them  as  you  might  do  a  heathen 
country.  Some  three  or  four  years  ago  Fowler  had  an  idea 
that  by  nurses,  trained  both  physically  and  religiously,  some- 
thing might  be  done.  .  .  .  The  idea  remained  in  my  mind,  and 
I  worked  it  out  by  degrees." 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  Neale's  first  idea 
of  a  conventual  order  began  in  1850,  or  that  it  was  inspired 
wholly  by  the  need  of  better  nursing.  As  in  the  case  of 
Carter,  the  social  work  was  the  occasion,  rather  than  the 
cause,  of  the  Sisterhood.  In  1843,  Neale  had  written  Ayton 
Priory,  one  of  the  strongest  arguments  in  behalf  of  monas- 
tic revival  produced  by  the  whole  Tractarian  party.  He 
openly  stated  his  purpose : 

1  Lippincott's  Magazine,  ix,  565. 

-  Letters   of  John  Mason  Neale.    Ed.   by  His   Daughter    (London, 
1910),  p.  233. 


SISTERHOODS 


145 


There  is,  perhaps,  hardly  any  subject  which  has  recently  occu- 
pied a  larger  share  of  the  attention  of  the  Churchmen  than 
the  possibility  and  expediency  of  a  revival  of  the  Monastick 
System.  .  .  .  The  following  tale  is  intended,  as  well  to  set 
forth  the  advantages,  and  all  but  necessity,  of  the  reintroduc- 
tion  of  monasteries,  as  to  suggest  certain  practical  details 
connected  with  their  establishment  and  subsequent  working.^ 

He  is  familiar  with  the  testimony  of  the  early  church  and 
of  the  seventeenth  century  divines  in  their  favor. 

His  presentation  of  the  advantages  of  a  monastic  revival 
is  so  strong  and  comprehensive  that  it  should  be  quoted 
here.     The  arguments  are : 

That  monasteries  have  from  the  earliest  times  existed  in  every 
branch  of  the  church ;  that  the  blessing  of  the  intercessory 
prayer  constantly  made  in  them  is  incalculable ;  that  the  church 
system,  involving  nightly,  as  well  as  daily,  supplication,  can 
nowhere  else  be  fully  acted  out ;  that  a  body  of  men,  deeply 
read  in  ecclesiastical  history  and  controversy  and  surrounded 
by  an  atmosphere  of  church  feeling,  would  be  fostered  in  them, 
which  would  be  ready  to  oppose  any  new  attack  of  heresy 
or  infidelity ;  that  colleges  can  not  in  this  respect  possess  the 
same  advantages ;  that  self-discipline  could  in  religious  houses 
be  practiced  more  regularly,  and  closer  communion  with  God 
be  more  attainable ;  that  they  would  be  invaluable  as  abodes 
for  young  men  between  their  leaving  the  university  and  en- 
tering on  the  cure  of  souls,  as  supplying  a  course  of  training, 
intellectual,  moral  and'  religious ;  that  aged  priests  might  be 
thus  provided  with  an  asylum,  who  now  though  physically  un- 
equal to  their  duty,  must  either  retain  it  or  be  reduced  to  pov- 
erty; that  important  ecclesiastical  works  might  here  be  under- 
taken with  the  advantage  of  uninterrupted  opportunities  and 
leisure,  hallowed  by  religion  and  a  division  of  labor;  that  an 
asylum  would  be  furnished  for  such  as  were  without  funds,  or 
who,  in  the  decline  of  life,  wished  to  devote  all  their  time  and 

1  Neale,  Ayton  Priory  (London,  1843),  Preface,  p.  ii. 


146  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

thoughts  to  the  preparation  for  their  approaching  change ; 
that  those  who  are  immersed  in  business  or  otherwise  entan- 
gled in  worldly  pursuits,  might  here,  in  such  seasons  as  Lent 
or  Advent,  find  a  place  of  salutary  retirement ;  that  the  diminu- 
tion of  personal  and  other  expenses  on  the  part  of  the  inmates 
would  set  free  a  large  portion  of  wealth  for  the  service  of 
God ;  that  the  poor  might  be  tended  in  them,  both  spiritually 
and  corporeally.^ 

Neale  was  also  interested  in  the  chief  handmaiden  of 
monasticism,  virginity.  In  his  Annals  of  the  Virgin  Saints,^ 
he  makes  it  clear  that  he  regards  virginity  as  a  "higher  and 
holier  state."  He  writes :  "And  there  is  another  class — 
and  it  is  for  them  that  I  write — whom  parity  of  sex,  of  age 
and  of  circumstance,  will  cause  to  direct  their  thoughts  to 
those  Flowers  of  Purity,  Celestial  Gems,  Brides  of  the  Im- 
maculate Lamb,  the  Virgin  Saints."  ^  So  far  did  Neale 
advance  toward  the  Roman  position  in  matters  of  ritual, 
that  the  Bishop  of  Chichester  inhibited  him  in  1846.* 
Whatever  denial  may  be  made  of  his  Roman  tendencies, 
his  admiration  for  Roman  monasteries  is  clear.  Writing 
to  his  wife  in  1849  from  the  monastery  of  La  Grande 
Chartreuse,  Dauphine,  he  says:  "It  seems  to  me  like  a 
dream  that  I  am  really  in  this  place,  which  I  have  so  long 
thought  of,  and  so  much  wished  to  see.  It  surpasses  all  my 
expectations  in  every  way."  ^ 

From  his  own  writings  it  may  be  concluded  that  Neale, 
like  the  Tractarians,  desired  monastic  orders  of  both  sexes, 
but  adapting  himself  to  the  social  conditions,  chose  the  one 
more  likely  to  win  popular  support,  vin,  the  Sisterhood.     A 

^  Ibid.,  Preface,  pp.  6-8. 

2  London,  1846 ;  Preface,  pp.  24-26. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  24. 

•*  Letters  of  John  Mason  Neale,  p.  99. 

^Ibid.,  p.  118. 


SISTERHOODS 


147 


man's  motives  however  can  not  be  exactly  determined. 
Hence  Miss  Towle  may  be  equally  correct  in  saying: 
"Neale  was  versed  in  the  chronicles  of  the  monastic  orders 
and  the  lives  of  the  Saints,  but  at  this  moment  (c.  1854) 
he  was  inspired  not  so  much  by  the  desire  to  restore  the  con- 
ventual discipline  as  by  an  impulse  of  pity  to  raise  the  fallen, 
convert  the  unbelieving,  and  minister  to  the  sick."  ^  With- 
out passing  further  opinion  on  Neale's  motives,  it  may  be 
said  that  he  desired  monasteries  on  principle  and  he  saw  the 
suffering  of  the  poor  around  him ;  and  from  these  two  ideas 
he  evolved  a  nursing  Sisterhood.  As  he  beheld  the  misery 
of  the  rural  population  around  East  Grinstead,  he  remem- 
bered the  labors  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  St.  Francis  de 
Sales  and  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  and  the  parochial  machinery 
seemed  inadequate." 

Neale  had  cherished  his  friend  Fowler's  idea  of  a  body 
of  nurses  which  had  been  laid  before  him  about  185 1  or 
1852,  but  which  had  produced  no  practical  results.^  After 
this  Neale  had  seen  the  good  done  by  a  partially  trained 
nurse  at  Horley.  He  happened  to  know  three  women  who 
were  anxious  and  able  to  join  a  Sisterhood,  but  did  not 
know  which  one  to  join.*  These  appeared  to  him  a  nucleus, 
if  he  could  secure  cooperation.  He  wrote  to  the  most 
favorable  of  his  friends,  Fowler,  Maberly,  Wheeler, 
Weguelin,  Carnegie,  Hunt,  Gream,  Antrobus,  et  al.  and 
found  them  all  enthusiastic.  Neale  was  opposed  to  the 
pseudo-asceticism  of  the  Devonport  Sisterhood,  but  he 
visited  the  Clewer  institution  twice  and  received  much 
counsel  and  help  from  the  Superior.  Fortunately  just  at 
this  time  Neale  found  a  suitable  Superior  for  his  future 

1  Towle,  John  Mason  Neale,  A  Memoir  (London,  1906),  p.  234. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  232-233. 

3  Letters  of  John  Mason  Neale,  p.  233  et  seq. 
*  Ibid. 


148  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

Sisterhood — Miss  Gream,  a  woman  of  forty-five,  accus- 
tomed all  her  life  to  parish  work.  His  plan  was  fast  taking 
form.     He  writes : 

With  the  help  of  some  of  our  friends  I  drew  up  some  rules, 
based  on  those  of  Clewer,  so  far  as  the  great  difference  of  de- 
sign would  permit.  The  scheme  then  resolved  itself  into  this : 
to  have  a  central  house — at  present  somewhere — hereafter, 
when  we  get  a  new  Bishop,  connected  (if  it  can  be  so)  with  this 
Chapel,  in  which  we  may  have  a  community  of  trained  Sisters, 
ready  to  be  sent  out  at  the  Superior's  discretion  gratuitously  to 
any  Parish  Priest  within  a  circuit  of  (say)  twenty-five  miles, 
that  may  need  their  services  in  nursing  any  of  his  people ;  he 
to  be  responsible,  so  far  as  may  be,  for  their  management, 
safety,  etc.,  while  they  are  in  his  parish.^ 

The  way  for  Neale's  further  progress  was  made  easier  by 
the  work  of  Florence  Nightingale.  Her  work  in  the 
Crimea  silenced  those  who  contended  that  delicately  nurtured 
women  were  incapable  of  bearing  physical  hardships  and 
that  voluntary  work  had  not  a  value  of  its  own."  When 
Neale  began  to  solicit  funds  his  success  exceeded  his  ex- 
pectations. His  next  step  was  to  find  a  suitable  hospital 
in  which  to  train  the  Sisters  as  nurses.  Westminster  Hos- 
pital opened  its  doors  to  receive  them.  By  this  time  Neale 
had  a  prospect  of  seven  or  eight  nurses.^  He  sent  out  a 
statement  of  his  scheme,  without  using  the  name  of  Sister- 
hood, to  the  210  parishes  in  his  district.  By  these  steps 
was  laid  the  foundation  of  the  St.  Margaret's  Sisterhood 
and  in  June,  1856  nine  Sisters  took  up  their  abode  in  their 
first  Sisterhood  house  at  East  Grinstead.* 

^Ibid.,  p.  234. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  235 ;  cf.  Towle,  John  Mason  Ncalc,  p.  234. 

3  LeUer  of  Feb.  i,  1855,  in  Letters  of  John  Mason  Neale,  p.  235. 
*  Towle,  op.  cit.,  p.  242. 


SISTERHOODS 


149 


Before  tracing  the  progress  of  the  Sisterhood,  mention 
should  be  made  of  the  advisers  and  supporters  of  Neale. 
They   reveal   the  temper   of   the   times.     Lord    Salisbury 
wrote  him :  "A  scheme  for  organizing  a  Society  of  Nursing 
Sisters,  under  proper  regulations  would  undoubtedly  be  one 
in  which  I  should  be  most  happy  to  join,  and  I  should  be 
really  glad  to  assist  such  an  establishment  as  far  as  lies  in 
my  power."  ^     But  he  feared  it  would  lead  to  another  at- 
tack on  Sackville  College.^     The  Mother  Superior  of  Clewer 
approved  and  advised.     R.  M.  Benson,  later  Superior  of  the 
Cowley  Fathers,  was  communicated  with  and  gave  a  long 
letter  of  advice  and  approbation.     William  J.  E.  Bennett,  a 
leader  of  the  Ritualists,  said  he  needed  the  Sisters  in  his 
parish,  but  the  name  "Sister"  would  set  the  town  ablaze.^ 
The  question  of  the  Sisterhood  was  brought  up  at  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Rural  Deans  of  Chichester  in  1855.^     There  was 
some  little  disputation  about  it.     The  Archdeacon,  favored 
the  plan,  and  the  Bishop  said  that  when  the  rules  came  be- 
fore him  he  would  give  all  the  help  he  could.     The  Balcome 
and  Frant  Deaneries  later  pronounced  in  favor  of  the  plan. 
Thus  while  the  approval  was  far  from  unanimous,^  there 
seems  to  have  been  no  such  bitter  opposition  as  in  the  case 
of  Miss  Sellon.     England  was  becoming  accustomed  to  the 
idea   of    Sisterhoods,   and   Florence   Nightingale   had   im- 
mortalized the  particular  form  of  service  which  Neale  was 
to  undertake. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  236-237. 

2  Sackville  College,  of  which  Neale  was  Warden,  had  been  attacked 
by  mobs  on  account  of  Neale's  supposed  Roman  Catholic  tendencies. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  237. 

4  Letters  of  John  Mason  Neale,  p.  239. 

^  The  Vicar  of  East  Grinstead  abhorred  the  Sisters.  "The  first  case 
of  infectious  fever,"  he  said,  "which  I  have  I  will  ask  them  to  under- 
take it,  and  then  perhaps  we  shall  get  rid  of  them."     {Ibid.,  p.  279.) 


ISO 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


As  to  the  Rule  of  the  Sisterhood,  Neale  said  he  had 
made  an  adaptation  of  Carter's/  Miss  Towle  throws  a 
Httle  additional  light  on  the  matter.  She  says  that  he  had 
founded  his  Rule  upon  that  of  the  Visitation  of  St.  Francis 
de  Sales  before  St.  Francis  converted  his  community  into  a 
cloistered  order;  but  it  had  its  origin  in  the  principles 
governing  the  Society  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul."  Neale's  ad- 
miration for,  and  visit  to,  the  Roman  convents  on  the  Con- 
tinent made  him  more  imitative  of  Roman  Catholic  orders 
than  was  Carter.  Describing  a  Convent  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity  he  said  that  it  reminded  him  of  his  own  Sister- 
hood.^ 

The  requirements  for  admission,  as  they  existed  in  1907, 
are  as  follows : 

No  one  is  admitted  as  a  Sister  unless  in  communion  with  the 
Church  of  England,  nor  if  under  the  age  of  25,  without  the 
written  consent  of  her  parents.  Before  one  who  fulfills  these 
conditions  can  become  a  Postulant  she  must  remain  some  time 
in  the  House  as  a  visitor.  She  may  then  be  admitted  as  a 
Postulant  and  must  remain  in  that  state  for  six  months.  The 
Postulant  who  appears  satisfactory  may  then,  if  she  wishes  to 
persevere,  be  proposed  for  election  as  a  Novice,  and  if  she 
has  in  her  favor  a  majority  of  the  votes  of  the  Professed  Sis- 
ters she  enters  the  Noviciate,  which  lasts  at  least  two  years 
for  a  Choir  Novice  and  four  years  for  a  Lay  Novice.  A 
Novice  requires  two-thirds  of  the  votes  of  the  Sisters  who 
have  themselves  been  professed  two  years  in  order  to  be  ad- 
mitted to  Profession.     The  final  vows  are  taken  for  life.* 

The  last  statement  is  significant,  for  vows  are  the  chief 
matter  of  dispute  in  the  Sisterhood  question. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  234. 

-  Towle,  John  Mason  Neale,  p.  234. 
3  Letters  of  John  Mason  Neale,  p.  289. 

*  Hutton,  Chaplain  of  St.  Margaret's  Sisterhood,  in  Pax,  Dec,  1907, 
P-  332. 


SISTERHOODS  I^I 

Of  the  daily  routine  of  services  in  the  Mother  House 
Neale  gives  an  account.     He  writes  in  1856 : 

I  go  in  at  7,  say  their  Litany  for  them,  and  then  celebrate.  .  .  . 
Tierce,  Sexts  and  Nones  they  generally  say  for  themselves ; 
but  on  Wednesdays  and  Fridays  I  say  Sexts  for  them,  and 
they  have  a  Sermonet  directly  after.  (They  always  stay  in  the 
Oratory  from  12  to  i.)  Directly  after  our  prayers  I  read 
evening  prayers  for  them ;  and  then  I  take  them  all  together  in 
the  common  room  as  a  class,  to  get  them  up  in  catechising. 
That  takes  till  about  7:15.  At  9:45  I  say  Compline  for  them; 
and  that  is  the  day's  routine.^ 

Neale  was  quite  systematic  in  the  practice  of  receiving 
confessions.^ 

The  novel  feature  of  Neal's  organization  was  that  the 
Sisters  lived  outside  the  House,  during  periods  of  their 
nursing  work.  Applications  for  assistance  were  made  to 
the  Superior,  who  could  accept  or  decline.  The  applicant 
was  required  to  state :  ( i )  For  what  purpose  the  Sister 
was  needed;  (2)  How  long  it  is  probable  she  may  be  re- 
quired; (3)  Where  it  is  intended  she  shall  lodge,  and  what 
accommodations  will  be  provided  for  her.^  The  applicant 
was  held  responsible  for  the  Sister's  safety  and  her  general 
superintendence.  The  Sister  went  into  a  home,  nursed, 
cooked,  mended  clothes,  and  took  care  of  the  children. 
While  working  in  a  parish,  she  often  lived  at  the  clergyman's 
house  and  dined  at  his  table,  a  custom  which  shocked  the 
Clewer  Sisters.*  Neale's  Sisterhood  was  thus  more  active 
and  less  "regular"  than  the  others  noted  hitherto. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  other  leading  Sisterhoods,  the 
growth  of  St.  Margaret's  was  remarkable.     The  work  of 

^Letters,  pp.  274-275. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  244-249. 

^  Kalendar  of  the  English  Church  for  1867  (London,  1868),  p.  169. 

^Letters,  p.  264. 


1^2  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

teaching  was  combined  with  that  of  nursing,  and  several 
schools  were  opened.  Branch  Houses  were  established 
throughout  England.  Plans  were  made  for  a  branch  in 
Hawaii,  but  this  mission  was  finally  undertaken  by  Miss 
Sellon's  Sisterhood,^ 

SEC.  VI.    A  VIEW  OF  THE  SISTERHOOD  MOVEMENT  IN  GENERAL 

Some  may  think  that  too  much  space  has  been  given  to 
Sisterhoods  in  this  treatise,  inasmuch  as  they  seem  less 
purely  monastic  than  the  orders  of  men.  It  is  true  that 
they  present  a  more  varied  and  less  "regular"  appearance 
than  the  Brotherhoods.  This  however  is  not  because  they 
are  less  like  the  Roman  Catholic  orders,  but  because  they 
are  more  modern  in  their  monastic  patterns.  Their  im- 
mediate models  for  the  most  part  are  those  of  the  seven- 
teenth to  the  nineteenth  centuries  abroad,"  while  the  Brother- 
hoods go  back  to  the  Benedictine,  Franciscan,  and  other 
types  of  that  period. 

In  general  there  may  be  said  to  have  been  three  lines  of 
desire  for  the  religious  employment  of  women  at  first. 
"Looking  back  as  our  memory  serves  us,  we  see  three  tones 
of  feeling  on  the  subject  combining  about  thirty  years  ago. 
The  Catholic  feeling,  longing  for  the  revival  of  religious 
orders  in  the  abstract,  and  making  penitentiary  work,  edu- 
cation or  nursing  their  raison  d'etre;  of  which  Clewer,  All 
Saints',  East  Grinstead,  and  Wantage,  with  many  lesser 
Sisterhoods  are  visible  effects."  ^  Secondly,  was  the  desire 
to  imitate  Fliedner,*  and  from  this  came  the  deaconess  insti- 
tutions.    Thirdly,  there  was  the  feeling  that  nursing  could 

1  Ibid.,  p.  343. 

2  Frere,  English  Church  Ways  (Milwaukee,  1914),  p.  86.  Cf.  Shipley, 
The  Church  and  the  World,  p.  189  (London,  1867). 

^Church  Quarterly  Review,  x.  394  (July,  1880). 
*  Theodor  Fliedner  in  1837  founded  the  first  German  Protestant  estab- 
lishment for  deaconesses  at  Kaiserswerth. 


SISTERHOODS  1 53 

be  better  done  by  highly  trained  rehgious  women,  as  e.  g.  at 
St.  John's  House/ 

Likewise  a  cross-section  of  the  pubHc  attitude  in  1850  is 
given  by  a  contemporary.  "Many  are  watching  with  deep 
interest  the  growth  of  these  Institutions,  still  in  their  infancy 
amongst  us.  Some  with  unbounded  confidence  in  their  suc- 
cess ;  others  with  a  cautious  and  a  misgiving  eye ;  some  with 
enthusiastic  admiration  for  the  system,  others  with  admira- 
tion for  the  self-devoted  spirit,  but  disapproval  of  this  form 
of  its  manifestation."  ^ 

While  supporters  were  gained  rapidly,  the  opposition  was 
not  soon  silenced.  Petitions  were  sent  to  Queen  Victoria, 
asking  her  to  warn  the  clergy  against  countenancing  these 
institutions.^  A  bill  for  the  inspection  of  nunneries  was  in- 
troduced in  1853  *  and  this  agitation  was  continued  for 
some  time.  The  writings  of  ex-Sisters  kept  up  the  ani- 
mosity of  many.^  The  ritualistic  services  in  the  Sisterhood 
chapels  and  the  publication  of  books  on  confession,  the 
Real  Presence  etc.  were  the  occasions  of  bitter  attacks.*' 
The  efficiency  of  their  social  work  was  compared  with  that 
of  the  deaconesses,  some  maintaining  its  superiority,  others 
its  inferiority."  The  secession  of  Sisters  to  Rome  aroused 
suspicion.  "The  Sisterhood  which  was  especially  under 
Dr.  Pusey's  guidance  has  given  no  less  than  20  of  its  mem- 
bers to  the  Church  of  Rome.  .  .  .  What  immense  influence 
they  are  exerting  in  a  quiet  way,  it  is  not  easy  to  overesti- 

1  Ibid. 

-Sisters  of  Mercy  in  the  Church  of  England  (London,  1850),  p.  4. 

3  Seymour,  Convents  or  Nunneries  (Bath,  1852),  p.  60. 

*  Guardian,  June  8,  1853. 

^  Walsh,  Secret  History  of  the  Oxford  Movement  (London,  1899), 
p.  186. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  199-200. 

^Shipley,  The  Church  and  the  World,  1867,  PP-  i73-i74;  cf.  Quar- 
terly Review,  cviii,  378;  Eraser's  Magazine,  Ixxxiv,  639  (1871). 


154 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


mate."  ^  The  reports  of  austerities,^  of  private  burial 
grounds  within  the  convents,^  of  the  securing  of  property,^ 
of  superstitious  customs,^  and  of  the  difficulty  in  leaving 
Sisterhoods  ^  all  tended  to  inflame  the  public  mind  against 
the  communities. 

Yet  in  spite  of  the  bitter  attacks,  these  communities  have 
grown  at  a  remarkable  rate.  Some  prominent  church 
authorities  have  estimated  that  there  are  twice  as  many 
Sisters  in  Anglican  Religious  Orders  to-day  as  there  were 
before  the  suppression  under  Henry  VIII. ^ 

In  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  it  was  seen  that  the 
Sisterhoods  were  started  earlier  than  the  Brotherhoods  be- 
cause of  their  broader  basis  in  authority  and  their  wider 
social  appeal.  It  was  due  to  this  wide  social  appeal  that 
they  continued  to  grow  so  rapidly.  For  instance,  from 
the  time  of  Southey  and  Gooch,  the  cry  for  better  nursing 
was  never   silenced.     The  church   leaders   recognized   the 

1  Everard,  Danger  and  Duty  (London,  1890),  p.  li. 

2  Walsh,  op.  cit.,  pp.  39-41. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  192. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  176. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  197. 

8  Ibid.,  p.  171 ;  cf.  Goodman,  Sisterhoods  in  the  Church  of  England, 
p.  113. 

^  Weller,  Religions  Orders  in  the  Anglican  Communion  (Milwau- 
kee, 1909),  pp.  37-38.  The  Dictionary  of  English  Church  History,  ed. 
S.  L.  Ollard,  p.  503,  estimates  the  number  at  time  of  suppression  at  745 
and  in  1909  about  1300.  Bishop  C.  C.  Grafton  gave  5000  as  the  present 
number  of  Sisters.     Works  (New  York,  1914),  v,  306. 

For  list  of  the  orders,  their  origins,  houses,  and  works,  vide  Kelway, 
The  Story  of  the  Catholic  Revival  (London,  1914),  p.  124;  Weller, 
Religious  Orders,  etc..  Appendix,  pp.  37-38;  Official  Year  Book  of  the 
Church  of  England  (London,  1916)  ;  also  Appendix  v. 

For  earlier  accounts,  which  furnish  interesting  comparisons,  vide 
Shipley,  The  Church  and  the  World,  1867,  pp.  191-194. 

Trench,  English  Sisterhoods  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  xvi,  339 
(Aug.,  1884). 


SISTERHOODS 


155 


beneficial  labors  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  on  the  Continent/ 
The  work  of  Miss  Nightingale  not  only  helped  Neale's 
Sisterhood  as  we  have  seen  but  the  fact  that  she  chose  eight 
Anglican  Sisters  for  her  first  party "  and  paid  a  glowing 
tribute  to  their  effectiveness  ^  served  to  win  popular  approval 
throughout  England.  The  praise  bestowed  upon  the  Sisters 
as  nurses  by  medical  men  and  the  manifest  improvement 
accomplished  helped  to  give  them  a  professional  stand- 
ing.^ 

In  addition  to  the  special  appeal  for  better  nursing  the 
Sisterhood  work  had  a  vital  connection  with  a  larger  move- 
ment for  the  social  and  industrial  recognition  of  women. 
The  first  two  decades  of  the  Sisterhood  growth  were  the 
period  of  John  Stuart  Mill,  Mrs.  Anna  Jameson  and  other 
prominent  advocates  of  woman's  emancipation.  A  con- 
temporary writes  that  the  two  chief  fears  in  the  minds  of 
the  Sisterhood's  opponents  were  those  of  encouraging 
"woman's  rights"  and  Romish  nunneries.^  The  advocates 
of  Sisterhoods  and  Deaconess  institutions  lay  great  stress 
on  the  need  of  finding  suitable  employment  for  the  single 
women  and  those  forced  to  self-support.^  The  subject 
elicited  numerous  articles  in  the  current  literature  of  the 
time,  lengthy  discussions  in  the  Convocations,  and  even  a 
speech  by  the  Prince  Consort.^  According  to  the  census 
of  18.SI,  there  were  more  than  500,000  surplus  women  in 

'^Guardian,  iii,  467  (July  19,  1848). 

2  Dock,  History  of  Nursing,  ii,  114  et  seq. 

3  Meadows,  in  Shipley,  The  Church  and  the  World,  1866,  p.  137. 

*  Meadows,  ibid.;  cf.  also  Jenner,  the  Physician  at  University  Col- 
lege Hospital,  in  Shipley,  The  Church  anr  the  World,  1867,  p.  171. 

5  Stevenson,  Praying  and  Working  (New  York,  1863),  p.  244. 

^  Howson,  Deaconesses  (London,  1862),  Preface.  Cf.  Jameson,  Sis- 
ters of  Charity  and  the  Communion  of  Labor,  2nd  ed.  (Boston,  1857). 

^  Howson,  op.  cit.,  Preface ;  cf.  Ludlow,  Woman's  Work  in  the 
Church,  1866. 


156  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

the  United  Kingdom/  In  the  census  of  1861,  there  were 
reported  to  be  573,530  more  women  than  men.^  In  185 1, 
it  was  estimated  that  one  half  of  the  6,000,000  aduh  women 
labored  for  their  support  and  that  about  2,000,000  were  un- 
married.^ However  unreliable  these  figures  may  be,  the 
problem  appeared  to  be  a  pressing  one,  and  the  Sisterhoods, 
by  promising  a  partial  solution  made  a  wide  social  appeal.* 

Other  reasons  given  for  the  rapid  growth  of  conventual 
communities  of  women  in  comparison  with  those  of  men 
are :  ( i )  The  very  opposition  to,  and  the  obscurity  of, 
the  work  attracted  certain  devoted  people;  (2)  Men  were 
finding  an  outlet  for  their  ascetic  desires  on  the  mission 
field;  and  (3)  Families  could  dedicate  a  daughter  to  the 
rehgious  life  more  easily  than  a  son.^ 

With  the  broad  social  appeal,  linked  to  the  religious  inter- 
est in  the  minds  of  the  promoters,  the  Sisterhoods  have  be- 
come a  great  factor  in  the  history  of  the  English  Church 
during  the  last  century.  The  following  statement  is  not 
that  of  a  Sister  but  one  for  which  the  present  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  is  responsible :  "When  the  time  hereafter 
comes  for  estimating  and  comparing  the  various  church 
movements  of  this  century  in  England,  it  is  probable  that 
the  first  place  as  regards  utility  and  strength  will  be  assigned 
to  the  revival  of  Sisterhood  life  as  an  active  constituent  in 
the  church's  work."  ^ 

^  Jameson,  op.  cit.,  p.  80. 

2  Howson,  op.  cit.,  p.  ii. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  9. 

^Eraser's  Magazine,  Ixxxiv,  638   (1871). 

5  Woodhouse,  Monasticism,  Ancient  and  Modern  (London,  1896), 
pp.  309-311.     Cf.  Benson,  in  The  Literary  Churchman,  April  5,  i88g. 

°  Davidson  and  Benham,  Life  of  Archibald  Campbell  Tait,  2  vols. 
(London,  1891),  i,  449.    Cf.  Carter,  Life  and  Letters,  Preface,  p.  5. 


CHAPTER  VI 

Communities  of  Men 

SEC.  I.  Newman's  retreat  at  littlemore 

In  Chapter  IV  we  traced  the  agitation  of  the  Tractarian 
leaders  for  the  revival  of  male  monastic  orders.  It  was 
seen  that  before  1845  these  rather  than  the  Sisterhoods 
were  emphasized;  and  in  fact  Newman  actually  put  his 
ideas  into  practice.  Although  this  attempt  was  soon  cut 
short  by  the  secession  of  the  members  to  the  Roman  faith, 
a  brief  account  of  it  forms  a  fitting  introduction  to  a 
chapter  on  the  Anglican  monasteries. 

On  May  28,  1840  Newman  wrote  to  Mrs.  J.  Mozley: 
"We  have  bought  nine  or  ten  acres  of  ground  at  Littlemore, 
and  so  be  it  in  due  time,  shall  erect  a  monastic  house  upon 
it."  ^  Eight  days  before  he  had  written  in  similar  vein 
to  the  Rev.  Thomas  Mozley :  "We  have  bought  nine  acres 
and  want  to  erect  a  '[jlovt].'  Give  me  some  hint  about 
building.  .  .  .  The  cells  to  be  added  as  required,  being 
9  or  10  ft.  high."  ^  Again  on  June  loth,  Newman  wrote 
to  Mozley:  'T  have  got  another  idea.  It  is  to  have  the 
cells  upon  a  cloister,  as  at  Magdalen.  ...  It  would  have 
a  fireplace  only  in  the  kitchen  and  refectory."  ^ 

^Letters  and  Correspondence  of  J.  H.  Newman  during  His  Life  in 
the  English  Church,  ed.  by  Anne  Mozley,  2  vols.  (London,  1891),  ii, 
305- 

-  Ibid.,  p.  304 

3  Ibid. 

157 


158  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

This  building  was  not  actually  started  until  February, 
1842.  Newman  improved  a  disused  range  of  stables,  form- 
ing a  library,  some  cells,  i.  e.  studies,  and  a  cloister/  One 
requirement  made  by  Newman  was  that  he  should  be  able  to 
see  the  ruins  of  the  Mynchery  convent.  Frederick  Oakeley, 
a  friend  of  Newman,  said  the  building  was  known  as  the 
"Littlemore  Monastery,"  and  "the  fact  is  generally  known 
that  the  life  at  Littlemore  was  founded  upon  the  rule  of  the 
strictest  Religious  Orders."  "  The  institution  aroused  much 
curiosity,  and  many  people  came  to  visit  and  to  criticise.^ 
Their  criticisms  caused  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  write  a 
letter  of  inquiry,  April  12,  1842.  In  reply  Newman  denied 
that  he  was  building  a  monastery.  His  letter  is  interesting 
in  view  of  his  previous  words  to  Mrs.  Mozley : 

For  many  years,  at  least  thirteen,  I  have  wished  to  give  myself 
to  a  life  of  greater  religious  regularity  than  I  have  hitherto 
led;  .  .  .  The  resolution  has  been  taken  with  reference  to  my- 
self alone.  ...  In  pursuing  it  I  am  thinking  of  myself  alone, 
not  aiming  at  any  ecclesiastical  or  external  effects.  At  the 
same  time  it  would  be  a  great  comfort  to  me  to  know  that  God 
had  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  others  to  pursue  their  personal 
edification  in  the  same  way.  .  .  .  Your  Lordship  will  allow 
me  to  add  my  firm  conviction  that  such  religious  resolutions 
are  most  necessary  for  keeping  a  certain  class  of  minds  firm  in 
their  allegiance  to  our  church.  .  .  .  Your  Lordship  will  per- 
ceive from  what  I  have  said  that  no  monastery  is  in  process  of 
erection,  there  is  no  chapel,  no  refectory,  hardly  a  dining  room 
or  parlor.  "The  cloisters"  are  my  shed  connecting  the  cot- 
tages.    I  do  not  understand  what  "cells  or  dormitories"  mean.* 

*  Mozley,  Thomas,  Reminiscences  Chiefly  of  Oriel  College  and  the 
Oxford  Movement,  2  vols.,  2nd  ed.   (London,  1882),  ii,  213-214. 

2  Historical   Notes    of   the    Tractarian   Movement,    1865,    pp.    93-94 ; 
quoted  in  Walsh,  Secret  History  of  the  Oxford  Movement,  p.  21. 

3  Mozley,  op,  cit.,  p.  215. 

*  Letters  and  Correspondence  of  J.  H.  Newman,  ii,  393-394. 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN  1 5^ 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  how  Newman  could  write 
such  a  denial  after  what  he  had  said  to  others/  Lockhart, 
one  of  the  members  of  the  community,  wrote : 

It  was  a  kind  of  monastic  life  of  retirement,  prayer  and  study. 
We  had  a  sincere  desire  to  remain  in  the  Church  of  England 
if  we  could  be  satisfied  that  in  so  doing  we  were  members  of 
the  world-wide  visible  communion  of  Christianity  which  was 
of  apostolic  origin.  .  ,  .  We  rose  at  midnight  to  recite  the 
Breviary  Office.  .  .  .  We  fasted  according  to  the  practice 
recommended  in  Holy  Scriptures  and  practices  in  the  most 
austere  Religious  Orders  of  Eastern  and  Western  Christen- 
dom.^ 

According  to  a  second  writer,^  the  festivals  and  offices  of 
the  Roman  liturgy  were  observed.  The  Oratory  had  no 
altar;  on  the  table  between  two  candlesticks  was  placed  a 
large  crucifix.  The  rising  at  midnight  to  recite  the 
Breviary  was  changed  to  6  A.  M.  One  slight  change  was 
made  in  the  Breviary  to  accommodate  it  to  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles,  viz,  in  the  invocation  of  saints.  The  meditation 
and  examination  were  made  each  day,  the  confession  every 
week,  and  the  communion  frequently.  Outside  of  the 
prayers  and  services  each  one  read  in  his  study ;  and  reading 
was  held  during  meals. 

A  glimpse  of  the  daily  routine  is  given  by  Mark  Pattison 

1  Cf.  also  his  letter  to  Pusey  Mar.  17,  1840 :  "Since  I  have  been  up 
here  an  idea  has  revived  in  my  mind,  of  which  we  have  before  now 
talked,  viz.,  of  building  a  Monastic  House  in  the  place  and  coming  up 
to  live  in  it  myself."  Liddon,  Life  of  Pusey,  ii,  135 ;  cf.  also  Letter  to 
James  Hope-Scott,  Jan.  3,  1842,  in  Ormsby,  Memoir  of  James  Robert 
Hope-Scott  of  Abbotsford,  2  vols.  (London,  1884),  ii,  6. 

2  Biography  of  Father  Lockhart,  p.  35 ;  quoted  in  Walsh,  op.  cit.,  p.  26. 
2  Thureau-Dangin,   The  English  Catholic  Revival  in  the  Nineteenth 

Century,  revised  and  re-ed.  by  Wilfrid  Wilber force  (London,  1914),  i, 
255  et  seq. 


l6o  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

who  spent  two  weeks  at  Littlemore  in  1843.  "Oct.  ist,  Sun- 
day— St.  John  called  me  at  5  130,  and  at  6  went  to  Matins, 
which  with  Lauds  and  Prime  take  about  an  hour  and  a 
half;  afterwards  returned  to  my  room  and  prayed  with 
some  effect,  I  think.  Tierce  at  9,  and  at  11  church  com- 
jmunion.  .  .  .  Thirty-seven  communicants.  Returned  and 
had  breakfast.  Had  some  discomfort  at  waiting  for  food 
so  long.  .  .  ,  Walked  up  and  down  with  St.  John  in  the 
garden;  Newman  afterwards  joined  us.  ...  At  3  to 
church;  then  Nones.  .  .  .  Vespers  at  8.  Compline  at  9. 
.  .  .  Went  to  bed  at  10."  ' 

Thus  by  whatever  name  the  institution  was  called  the 
life  was  practically  monastic.  The  only  element  lacking 
was  that  of  vows,  for  of  these  no  proof  is  found.  Hence 
Newman  could  perhaps  excuse  himself  from  the  monastic 
charge  by  maintaining  that  it  was  only  a  retreat.  That  it 
was  intended  to  serve  as  a  retreat  for  clergy  is  clear.  On 
Mar.  7,  1843  Newman  wrote:  "All  our  beds  have  been 
full  for  months,  and  I  think  we  must  cut  our  sets  of  rooms 
into  two  to  admit  more  inmates."  ^  But  there  seems  to 
have  been  a  permanent  circle  of  Newman's  friends  who  re- 
mained, and  the  permanence  of  their  state  was  interrupted 
only  by  their  secession  to  Rome  following  Newman's.^ 
The  unfortunate  outcome  of  the  attempt  at  Littlemore  un- 
doubtedly proved  a  hindrance  to  the  monastic  movement 
among  Anglican  men.* 

1  Pattison,  Memoirs   (London,  1885),  pp.   190-191. 

2  Letters  and  Correspondence,  ii,  409. 

3  Walsh,  op.  cit.,  p.  27. 

^  When  Faber  was  converted  to  Romanism  he  had  gathered  around 
him  a  group  of  young  men  at  Elton  Rectory.  With  these  he  had  in- 
tended to  found  a  community.  Their  secession  added  another  handicap 
to  the  Brotherhood  movement  of  the  Anglican  Church.  Parliamentary 
Report,  1870,  vii.     Testimony  of  Rev.  W.  T.  Gordon,  p.  126. 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN  l6i 

SEC.   II.    THE  REVIVED  AGITATION   FOR  BROTHERHOODS 

For  almost  two  decades  after  Newman  left  Littlemore 
for  Rome,  the  Church  of  England  heard  little  of  monas- 
teries. The  sad  memory  of  that  event  and  the  bright 
promises  of  the  Sisterhood  movement  served  to  turn  atten- 
tion elsewhere.^  In  the  sixties,  however,  the  Sisterhoods 
being  firmly  established,  the  minds  of  the  High  Church 
wing  were  turned  again  toward  monastic  orders  of  men. 
The  arguments  of  Froude,  Newman,  Neale  and  other  ad- 
vocates of  earlier  years  were  echoed  in  substance  if  not  in 
form ;  and  to  these  some  new  reasons  were  added. 

A  modern  Anglican  monk  has  very  frankly  written : 
"The  real  reason  for  the  restoration  of  the  Religious  life  is 
that  it  represents  one  aspect  of  the  Christian  ideal  without 
which  the  Gospel  is  misrepresented.  But  there  are  lower, 
utilitarian  motives  which  we  must  notice."  ^  It  was  these 
utilitarian  motives  which  were  chiefly  emphasized  in  the 
sixties.  For  example,  clerical  celibacy  was  praised  not  so 
much  for  its  intrinsic  worth  as  for  its  aid  to  efficiency.     It 

1  In  this  period  three  men  made  approaches  to  monastic  institutions. 
"In  1849  George  R.  Prynne  endeavored  to  establish  a  brotherhood  at  St. 
Peter's  Plymouth.  In  May,  1855,  Edward  Steere  began  a  community 
for  men,  the  Brotherhood  of  St.  James,  at  Tamworth,  but  the  experi- 
ment seems  to  have  failed  within  a  year."  Ollard,  in  Dictionary  of 
English  Church  History  (London,  1912),  pp.  501-502. 

Charles  Lowder,  leader  of  the  St.  George's  Mission  in  London,  wrote 
to  his  father  in  1856:  "My  desire  is  to  make  it  a  thoroughly  Catholic 
work,  a  life  of  poverty  and  self-denial,  and  dedication  to  God's  service, 
and  if  it  may  be,  the  revival  of  a  really  Religious  Order  for  mission- 
ary workmen  trained  in  holy  living  for  the  work  of  winning  souls. 
Dr.  Pusey  and  others  wish  me  to  go."  Trench,  Charles  Lowder,  A 
Biography  (London,  1885),  p.  86.  To  this  end  he  studied  the  "Life  of 
St.  Vincent  de  Paul,"  and  actually  organized  his  curates  in  a  Parochial 
Clergy  House.  But  a  regular  monastic  order  was  never  worked  out. 
In  February,  1868,  three  of  his  four  curates  were  received  into  the 
Roman  faith.    Ibid.,  p.  232. 

2  Bull,  The  Revival  of  the  Religious  Life   (New  York,  1914),  p.  75. 


1 62  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

was  shown  that  the  single  priest  is  more  easily  moved  from 
place  to  place;  he  has  no  household  worries  to  distract  him; 
he  has  no  temptation  to  accumulate  wealth ;  he  is  not  afraid 
to  enter  diseased  homes;  he  would  have  no  interests  but 
those  of  the  Church :  and  with  all  these  advantages,  he 
would  be  less  expensive  to  the  Church.^ 

A  second  outstanding  argument  for  religious  orders  was 
the  lack  of  clergy.  The  advocates  held  that  the  candidates 
are  decreasing,  and  it  is  vain  to  look  for  this  clerical  work 
to  be  done  by  the  classes  from  which  the  clergy  are  drawn.^ 
There  are  many  available  men  in  the  lower  classes  anxious 
for  religous  work.  They  could  be  secured  and  trained  for 
work  in  the  slums  and  missions  if  monasteries  were  es- 
tablished.^ The  parish  clergy,  overworked  and  too  few,  can 
not  reach  the  masses.^  The  success  of  the  Roman  Church 
in  reaching  these  people  is  due  to  its  friars,  who  can  preach, 
conduct  "missions"  and  retreats.^  These  friars  could  fur- 
nish a  different  type  of  religious  service  for  the  masses 
who  are  not  attracted  by  the  formality  of  the  churches. 
They  would  be  valuable  as  Confessors.*' 

Another  reason  for  monastic  orders  was  the  desire  for 
the  religious  life  among  the  curates.  They  feel  the  lone- 
liness of  their  work  and  the  need  of  cloisters.  The  taking 
of  these  parochial  men  into  the  religious  life  will  be  balanced 
by  men  who  find  themselves  unfitted  for  celibacy  and  the 
"regular"  life,  and  who  will  therefore  come  into  the  secular 

1  Vaux,  "Clerical  Celibacy,"  in  Shipley,  The  Church  and  the  World 
(London,  1866),  p.  171  et  seq. 

2  Baring-Gould,   "On  the   Revival  of   Religious   Confraternities,"   in 
Shipley,  op.  cit.,  p.  96. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  106. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  93. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  97  ct  seq.;  cf.  Vaux,  "Missions  and  Preaching  Orders,"  in 
Shipley,  op.  cit.,  pp.  180-183. 
^  Vaux,  op.  cit.,  p.  184. 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN 


163 


work.  These  will  be  at  liberty  to  depart/  Other  argu- 
ments cited  were:  (i)  The  value  of  monks  in  foreign 
missions,  as  shown  by  the  Roman  Church;^  (2)  Their 
usefulness  m  conducting  "Retreats"  and  revivals;**  (3) 
They  would  provide  places  of  safety  for  the  weakly  in  mind 
or  body,  the  aged,  the  drunkard,  etc. ;  *  (4)  They  would 
make  the  cathedral  establishments  productive  of  something 
useful;  ^  (5)  Religious  orders  would  serve  to  counteract  the 
desire  for  ecclesiastical  preferment;**  (6)  They  would  check 
the  mercenary  and  worldly  spirit  of  the  age;^  (7)  By 
teaching  the  world  true  poverty,  these  orders  would  help  to 
solve  the  social  and  industrial  problems;^  (8)  There  is  a 
great  need  of  specialists  and  teachers  superior  to  those 
among  whom  they  work,  and  these  monastics  would  be 
superior  in  experience,  spiritual  attainments  and  the  con- 
quest of  the  lower  nature.^ 

With  this  emphasis  on  utilitarian  arguments,  it  was  na- 
tural that  the  orders  suggested  would  be  active  rather  than 
contemplative.^"  One  of  the  spokesmen  for  monasticism 
said  that  the  Carthusian  type  was  too  contemplative,  the 
Cistercian  too  agricultural,  and  the  Dominican  too  severe; 
even  the  Franciscan  would  need  modification ;  but  "Congre- 
gations, like  the  Passionists,  Redemptorists  or  Oblates, 
would  raise  no  prejudices,  the  vows  being  simple  and  the 
dress  not  peculiar."  ^^     Another  leader  suggests  orders  like 

^  Baring-Gould,  op.  cit.,  pp.  106-107. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  109. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  iio-iii. 

*  Woodhouse,  Monasticism,  p.  353. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  361. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  360. 

7  Ibid.,  p.  349.     Cf.  Bull,  op.  cit.,  p.  68. 

8  "G.  C.,"  in  Cowley  Evangelist   (1909-1910),  pp.  1-7. 

9  Woodhouse,  op.  cit.,  p.  347. 

10  Baring-Gould,  ibid.,  p.  109. 

11  Ibid.,  p.  109. 


164 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


the  Franciscans  or  S.  Vincent  de  Paul.^  With  these  argu- 
ments and  these  ideals,  it  will  be  interesting  to  see  what 
orders  actually  came  to  be  established. 

SEC.  III.    FATHER  IGNATIUS  AND  THE  ORDER  OF  ST.  BENEDICT 

Joseph  Leycester  Lyne  was  ordained  deacon  on  Dec.  23, 
i860,  the  Bishop  of  Exeter  imposing  a  condition  that  he 
should  not  preach  in  his  diocese  for  three  years  because  of 
his  eccentricity  and  impatience  of  discipline."  George  R. 
Prynne  offered  him  a  curacy  at  St.  Mary's,  Plymouth.  In 
this  work  he  showed  a  very  devotional  spirit.  Pryme, 
writing  to  Lyne's  mother,  said :  "He  was  animated  by  a 
very  true  spirit  of  devotion  in  carrying  out  such  work  as 
was  assigned  to  him;  and  his  earnest  and  loving  character 
largely  won  the  affections  of  those  among  whom  he 
ministered."  ^ 

At  Plymouth  Lyne  formed  two  friendships  which  were 
very  important  in  his  future  career.  These  two  friends 
were  Pusey  and  Miss  Sellon.  According  to  his  biographer, 
Mme.  Bertouch,  these  two  were  "the  foster-parents  of  the 
monk's  vocation,  or  at  any  rate  of  its  consummation."  * 

^  Vaux,  op.  cit.,  p.   152  et  seq. 

Thirty  years  later  a  friend  of  monasticism  could  write  that  many 
have  been  converted  to  the  active  orders  but  not  to  the  contemplative. 
Yet  he  thinks  thes'e  furnish  the  very  salt  of  the  earth  and  of  the  Church, 
saving  them  from  corruption.  Their  feasibility  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury is  shown  by  the  flourishing  orders  of  Carthusians  at  Cowfold  in 
Sussex  and  in  France,  and  by  the  Cistercians  of  La  Trappe  in  France 
and  of  St.  Bernard  in  Leicestershire.  Woodhouse,  op.  cit.,  pp.  351  and 
378.  This  comparison  with  the  Roman  Catholic  foundations  bears  out 
the  thesis  of  chapter  ii. 

-  Gilg,  "Die  Renaissance  des  Klosterwesens  in  der  anglikanischen 
Kirche,"  in  Internationale  Kirchliche  Zeitschrift,  1913,  S.,  277- 

3  Kelway,  George  Rundle  Prynne  (London,  1905),  p.  146. 

*  Bertouch,  Life  of  Father  Ignatius,  O.  S.  B.,  the  Monk  of  Llanthony 
(London,  1904),  p.  82. 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN 


165 


Lyne  called  Miss  Sellon,  "My  mother  Superior,"  and  Pusey 
"My  father  in  God,"  and  treasured  relics  of  both  in  Llan- 
thony  Abbey.  Almost  up  to  his  death,  Pusey  was  the 
chosen  administrator  of  the  Sacrament  of  Penance  to 
Ignatius.  Pusey  was  his  "friend,  his  confidant,  his  arbi- 
trator in  all  situations  difficult."  ^  While  at  Plymouth 
^yne  conceived  the  idea  of  a  religious  community.  Even 
before  his  acquaintance  with  Pusey,  it  seems  that  he  had 
gathered  around  him  a  group  of  men  and  boys,  who  called 
him  "Superior"  and  their  group  the  "Society  of  the  Love 
of  Jesus."  ^  This  Society  grew  to  about  forty  members. 
Lyne  went  to  Pusey  and  Miss  Sellon  for  advice  about  it, 
and  the  latter  with  Pusey's  encouragement  loaned  him  a 
house  to  begin  his  community  life.  With  two  Brothers,  he 
took  possession  of  this  house,  but  the  existence  of  the  com- 
munity was  cut  short  by  Lyne's  serious  illness.^ 

At  Bruges  where  he  went  to  recuperate,  Lyne  studied  the 
rule  of  the  Benedictine  Order.  On  his  return  in  1861  he 
took  A.  H.  Mackonochie's  place  as  curate  of  St.  George's- 
in-the-East,  London.  Here  he  assumed  the  Benedictine 
habit,  which  occasioned  much  opposition  and  caused  his 
resignation  after  nine  months.* 

In  1862  Lyne,  who  henceforth  called  himself  "Father 
Ignatius,"  issued  a  pamphlet  advocating  the  revival  of 
monasticism  in  the  Church  of  England.  This  excited  a 
heated  controversy.^  Not  content  with  this,  he  secured  two 
kindred  spirits  and  began  the  Ord^r  of  St.  Benedict  at  Clay- 
don,  near  Ipswich.  His  reasons  were  strong  and  clear. 
"Souls  are  perishing  by  thousands  close  to  our  doors.     The 

1  Ibid.,  p.  83. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  92 ;  cf.  Gilg.,  op.  cit.,  S.  377. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  92-100;  cf.  Kelway,  George  Rundle  Prynne,  pp.  146-147. 
*  Woods,  in  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  Suppl.  ii  (New  York, 
1912),  p.  495. 
5  Ibid. 


1 66  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

Church  of  England,  as  she  is  at  present,  is  wholly  unable  to 
grapple  with  the  task.  .  .  .  Communities  of  men — call  them 
colleges,  monasteries,  or  whatever  you  please — appear  to  be 
the  most  suitable  for  the  object  in  view.  These  men  should 
be  unmarried  and  altogether  unshackled  by  earthly  cares 
and  domestic  ties.  Such  establishments  must  be  governed 
by  rule.  The  rule  of  St.  Benedict  has  received  universal 
fanction,  and  the  veneration  of  thirteen  centuries.  It  is 
suitable  in  almost  every  way  for  all  ages  and  times,  and  is 
consistent  with  the  most  faithful  loyalty  to  the  English 
Church."  ^ 

The  specific  objects  to  be  attained  by  this  order  were: 
(i)  The  restoration  of  the  ascetic  life  and  continual  prayer 
in  the  Church  of  England;  (2)  Home  mission  work,  by 
preaching,  visiting  the  poor,  and  teaching  the  young;  (3) 
To  afford  a  temporary  religious  retreat  for  the  secular 
clergy;  (4)  To  raise  the  tone  of  devotion  in  the  English 
Church  to  a  higher  standard  by  showing  the  real  exempli- 
fication of  the  evangelical  "Counsels  of  Perfection";  (5) 
To  aid  in  bringing  about  the  union  of  Christendom.^ 

There  were  three  orders  within  the  Community.  The 
First  Order,  to  whom  the  above  objects  apply,  observed  the 
Holy  Rule  of  St.  Benedict  in  its  integrity.  The  noviciate 
lasted,  first  for  six  months,  then  for  four,  then  for  two,  then 
for  the  year,  until  the  novice  was  considered  really  called 
by  God  to  take  the  life  vows.  The  Second  Order  consisted 
of  men  and  women  living  in  the  world,  and  yet  leading  in 
their  own  homes  a  strictly  religious  life,  using  a  prescribed 
dress,  reciting  the  canonical  day  hours  according  to  the 
Benedictine  Use,  and  also  observing  the  five  rules  of  the 
Third  Order.     This  Third  Order  consisted  of  men,  women 

1  Brother  Ignatius,  in  the  Guardian,  Oct.  26,  1864,  p.  1031. 
"  Kalcndar  of  the  English  Church  for  the  Year  1867  (London,  1867- 
1907),  p.  185. 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN  1 67 

and  children  bound  by  solemn  promise  to  obey  five  definite 
rules  regulating:  (i)  Their  attendance  at  the  holy  mys- 
teries of  the  Church;  (2)  Self-examination;  (3)  The  use 
of  a  prayer  on  behalf  of  the  Society;  (4)  The  giving  of 
alms;  and  (5)  Obedience  to  the  Superior/ 

This  community  was  the  object  of  many  attacks.  In 
1863  Ignatius  obtained  a  property  at  Elm  Hill,  near  Nor- 
wich.^ He  built  the  chapel  at  his  own  expense  and  his 
father  helped  to  support  the  establishment.^  The  bishops 
never  gave  Ignatius  any  sanction  in  this  work,  but  they  did 
not  make  any  formal  objection  to  his  building  a  monastery.* 
The  Bishop  of  Norwich,  however,  inhibited  him  from 
preaching  in  his  diocese.  There  was  much  public  criticism 
and  scandal;  and  the  charges  of  Romanism  seem  to  have 
had  some  ground.  An  ex-Franciscan  monk,  who  had  sung 
at  Ignatius'  services,  wrote  of  the  monastery:  "Truly 
everything  done  in  it  was  Roman-like.  They  had  candles, 
altars,  Virgins,  Saints,  Relics,  Beads,  Host,  and  a  host  of 
other  things;  and  the  Anglicans  here  said  it  was  more  like 
Rome  than  anything  else.  Still  Ignatius,  O.  S.  B.  called 
himself  an  English,  and  not  a  Roman,  monk;  and  it  was 
known  as  the  Norwich  Monastery."  ^  Ignatius  wore  san- 
dals and  shaved  his  head.  There  is  extant  a  description  of 
the  gorgeous  ceremonies  with  which  the  monks  celebrated 
the  Feast  of  the  Assumption  of  the  Virgin  Mary.^ 

Attacks  from  without  ^  and  dissension  within  soon  began 

1  Ibid. 

2  Gilg.  op.  cit.,  p.  377. 

3  Parliamentary    Report,    1870,    vii,    196    et    seq.     Testimony    of    his 
Father,  Francis  Lyne. 

4  Ihid. 

5  Widdows,  Letters  by  F.   G.   Widdows,  F rater  Aloysius,  Ex-Fran- 
ciscan Monk   (Dundee,  1879),  p.  4. 

6  Guardian,  Aug.  24,  1864,  quoting  from  the  Norwich  Argus. 
^  Guardian,  Oct.  26,  1864. 


1 68  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

to  weaken  the  Society.  The  same  ex-Franciscan  wrote : 
"Ignatius  and  his  monks  had  not  the  pohcy  of  the  Roman 
CathoHc  monks,  because  the  latter  keep  all  scandals  to  them- 
selves, and  keep  them  within  monastery  walls."  ^  A  priest 
of  the  Third  Order  said  in  defence  of  Ignatius  that  there 
were  no  scandals  while  the  Superior  was  at  Norwich,  but 
that  he  was  compelled  to  be  absent  so  often  raising  money.^ 
In  spite  of  the  opposition  and  scandals,  many  clergy,  how- 
ever sympathized  with  Ignatius  and  some  joined  the  Third 
Order. ^  As  to  the  size  of  the  establishment  at  Norwich, 
a  hostile  ex-Brother  writes  that  even  at  its  zenith,  there 
were  not  as  many  as  150  in  the  entire  Order — "men, 
women,  boys,  girls,  and  infants."  *  After  a  stormy  career 
of  about  three  years,  Ignatius  found  himself  dispossessed 
of  his  property  through  a  flaw  in  the  title-deed ;  ^  and  in 
1866  he  retired  to  a  house  in  Chale,  loaned  him  by  Pusey. 
His  three  years'  work  was  not  without  some  fruits,  at  least 
in  the  opinion  of  his  followers.  For  instance,  the  subject 
of  monasticism  had  been  ventilated  and  many  prejudices 
dispelled.  The  Catholic  movement  had  received  a  great 
impetus.  Moreover,'  the  Diocese  of  Norwich  had  been 
greatly  changed,  the  Catholic  doctrines  having  been  boldly 
preached  and  gladly  heard  by  hundreds.®  The  following 
judgment  of  a  friend  of  monasteries  is  enlightening  and 
seems  very  fair.     "The  Brotherhood  of  the  Order  of  St. 

^  Widdows,  op.  cit.,  p.  6. 

-Guardian,  Sept.  12,  1866,  p.  951;  cf.  Temple  Bar  (Nov.,  1865),  xv, 

139- 

3  Guardian,  May  20,  1866,  p.  538. 

^  Guardian,  Sept.  26,  1866,  p.  997. 

^'Guardian,  Sept.  12,  1866,  p.  951. 

^  Ibid.,  cf.  Parliamentary  Report,  1870,  vii,  p.  196  et  seq. 

The  popular  interest  in  Ignatius  is  shown  by  the  following:  "It  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  speak  of  his  personal  appearance,  for  you  may  see 
his  photograph,  vestments,  properties,  and  all  in  the  first  shop-window 
you  pass."     Tetnple  Bar,  xv,  141   (1865). 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN 


i6g 


Benedict  has  not  indeed  met  with  Hke  success.  This  is  per- 
haps owing  to  an  overhasty  indiscretion  on  the  part  of  him 
who  attempted  what  was  beyond  his  strength."  ^ 

In  1867  Father  Ignatius  removed  to  Laleham,  and  at 
Feltham  near  by  he  started  a  Benedictine  community  of 
Anghcan  Sisters."  For  two  years  he  was  busy  on  many 
preaching  missions,  but  he  was  inhibited  by  Archbishop  Tait, 
because  of  his  proposal  that  he  would  "solemnly  excom- 
municate from  Our  Holy  Congregation"  a  lady.^ 

In  1869  he  bought  the  property  at  Chapel-y-fin,  about 
fourteen  miles  from  Abergavenny.  Plans  were  made  for 
a  building  copied  after  the  ancient  abbey  of  Llanthony,  only 
four  miles  away.  It  was  called  a  "monastery"  by  the  archi- 
tect and  was  to  have  a  cloister  and  a  small  burial  ground.* 
The  laying  of  the  cornerstone  in  February,  1870  was  an 
elaborate  ceremony,  attended  by  burning  of  candles  and  in- 
cense. The  size  of  the  building  is  indicated  by  the  amount 
of  the  contract  which  was  £674,  with  more  to  be  built  later. ^ 

The  pictures  of  the  life  at  Llanthony  have  been  given  us 
chiefly  by  Ignatius'  enemies.  Sister  Mary  Agnes,  O.  S.  B. 
who  left  the  Feltham  Convent,  has  written  her  views  of 
Ignatius,**  and  Dom  Cyprian  Alston,  O.   S.  B.,  who  went 

^  Bennett,  "Some  Results  of  the  Tractarian  Movement  of  1833,"  in 
Shipley,  The  Church  and  the  World,  1867,  p.  20. 

~  In  1868  he  invited  Hilda  Mary  Stewart,  a  member  of  Miss  Sellon's 
Sisterhood  vi'hom  he  had  met  in  1861,  to  assist  him  in  founding  an 
Order  of  Enclosed  Nuns  at  Feltham.  She  received  the  Benedictine 
habit  in  the  Chapel  at  Laleham.  The  Benedictines  of  Caldey  Island 
(Caldey  Island,  1912),  p.  129.  After  several  changes  of  residence  and 
control,  this  Sisterhood  seceded  to  the  Roman  faith  in  1912. 

3  Davidson  and  Benham,  Life  of  Archibald  Campbell  Tait,  2  vols. 
(London,  1891,  i,  505. 

*  Pari.  Report,  1870,  vii,  p.  195.  Testimony  of  Edwin  Foster,  the 
builder. 

■'  Ibid. 

'^Nunnery  Life  in  the  Church  of  England  (London,  1890). 


170 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


over  to  the  Benedictines  of  Caldey,  has  given  a  very  inti- 
mate and  apparently  rather  sympathetic  description  of  the 
institution  at  Llanthony.^  This  dissertation  can  only  give 
the  statements  as  those  present  them.  Alston  arrived  in 
1888.  At  that  time  Ignatius  had  two  Brothers  and  two  or 
three  boys,  with  three  nuns  in  an  adjoining  convent.  The 
number  was  constantly  changing.  The  Superior  usually 
kept  boys  in  the  hope  of  developing  future  members  of  the 
Community  but  the  boys  generally  became  dissatisfied  with 
the  severe  Rule  and  left.  The  Rule  was  really  severe.  An 
attempt  was  made  to  abstain  perpetually  from  eating  meat 
(although  not  always  observed).  There  was  very  little  re- 
creation or  relaxation.  Silence  was  kept  according  to  the 
Benedictine  Rule  and  enforced  by  severe  and  ridiculous 
penalties.  Moreover  the  conditions  of  life  were  none  too 
healthy.  But  there  were  reasons  why  Ignatius  could  not 
enforce  a  strict  observance  of  these  rules.  In  the  first 
place,  he  did  not  live  the  community  life  himself.  His  oc- 
cupations, devotions,  meals,  etc.  were  apart  from  tTie  rest. 
While  he  was  sincere  and  earnest,  he  was  rather  erratic  in 
temper.  His  frequent  and  long  absences  prevented  a  close 
oversight.  There  was  consequently  tale-bearing  and  spy- 
ing among  the  members.  Another  cause  of  irregularity  was 
the  presence  of  boys  in  the  Community.  Furthermore 
Ignatius  had  no  training  in  the  Religious  Life.  He  used  to 
say  the  only  books  a  monk  needed  were  the  Bible  and  the 
Holy  Rule ;  and  as  a  result  he  kept  the  library  locked.  He 
himself  dictated  the  doctrines  to  be  accepted  and  they  were 
a  curious  blend  of  Catholic  dogma  and  Calvinism.  He 
recognized  no  ecclesiastical  superior,  and  privately  inter- 
preted the  Rule  of  St.  Benedict,  As  to  dress,  he  added  to 
the  ordinary  Benedictine  habit,  the  use  of  Franciscan  sandals 

1  In  Pax,  Dec,  1913,  p.  60  et  seq. 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN  171 

and  a  knotted  rope  for  girdle,  believing  them  more  monastic 
in  appearance.  He  borrowed  from  some  other  orders  the 
custom  of  renewing  vows  year  by  year  instead  of  admitting 
to  solemn  Profession  at  the  end  of  one  year's  Noviciate. 
He  therefore  called  them  "Professed  Novices."  ^ 

Dom  Alston  shows  the  severity  of  the  life,  by  giving  a 
schedule  of  the  day's  activities : 

2  a.  m.     Rise. 

Until  3  145     Matins  and  Lauds. 

3  :45-5     Household  work. 

5-6     Prime. 
6-7 130     Household  work. 

7 :30-8     Tierce  and  a  breakfast  of  dry  bread  and  coffee. 
8-10     Household  duties. 
10-12     Bible  reading;  writing,  etc. 
Noon     Sext. 
12 130  p.  m.-i  p.  m.     Dinner. 
1-2     Siesta. 
2     None. 
Until  4 :45     Various  occupations,  gardening,  etc. 
4 :45-5     Visit  to  Blessed  Sacrament. 

5  Supper. 

6  Vespers. 
7-8     Recreation. 

8-8:15     Assembly  in  Sacristy  for  a  "Conference,"  con- 
sisting of  a  chapter  from  the  Holy  Rule  and  a 
reading  from  Butler's  Lives  of  the  Saints. 
8:15     Compline. 

Retire  immediately  afterwards.^ 

With  a  proper  allowance   for  the  exaggeration  of  the 
ex-Brother,  the  reader  can  see  that  the  life  at  Llanthony 

1  Ibid. 

2  Ibid. 


172 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


must  have  been  rather  severe.^  At  any  rate  the  Commu- 
nity did  not  prosper.  At  the  death  of  Ignatius  in  1908, 
he  left  only  five  Brothers  and  a  few  Sisters.  These  were 
unable  to  carry  on  the  Community  and  from  1909  on  Llan- 
thony  Abbey  became  the  property  of  the  Benedictines  of 
Caldey  Island.^ 

SEC.   IV.       THE  BENEDICTINES  OF  CALDEY  ISLAND 

The  Order  of  St.  Benedict  founded  by  Father  Ignatius 
was  not  a  revival  of  pure  Benedictinism.  Ignatius  was  in- 
dependent and  erratic,  his  rules  were  eclectic.  It  was  left 
to  another  to  restore  the  precise  methods  of  the  fourteenth 
century.^ 

When  a  lad  of  twelve,  Aelred  Carlyle  found  in  his 
father's  library  a  copy  of  Rev.  Samuel  Fox's  Monks  and 
Monasteries^  "It  was  from  this  volume  that  he  first  con- 
sciously received  the  impulse  which  has  become  the  master- 
motive  of  his  life."  ^  He  kept  his  ideal  before  him;  and 
when  in  1892  he  began  his  medical  studies,  his  mind  was 
still  set  upon  the  Religious  Life  with  a  definite  attraction 
to  the  Order  of  St.  Benedict.  As  a  student  in  one  of  the 
London  hospitals  he  lived  as  closely  as  possible  according 
to  the  Rule  of  that  Order.  In  this  same  year  he  paid  an 
apparently  accidental  visit  to  the  Benedictine  nuns  at 
Twickenham,*'  who  had  been  founded  with  the  sanction  of 
Dr.  Temple,  Bishop  of  London.^     The  visit  showed  him 

^  Cf.  Sister  Mary  Agnes,  Nunnery  Life,  on  the  cruelty  of  the 
penances,  p.  84  et  seq. 

2  Pax,  Dec,  1909,  pp.  121-123. 

3  Rogers,  in  A  Franciscan  Revival,  ed.  by  A.  Clifton  Kelway,  Plais- 
tow,  1908,  p.  43. 

*  Cf.  Bibliography. 

s  The  Benedictines  of  Caldey  Island,  p.  121. 

6  Founded  by  Ignatius. 

"^  Benedictines  of  Caldey  Island,  p.  13. 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN 


173 


that  the  Benedictine  Life  had  already  been  revived  for  wo- 
men, and  hence  was  feasible  for  men.  Aelred  was  admitted 
into  the  Oblates  of  St.  Benedict,  an  association  of  young 
men  organized  by  the  chaplain  of  the  nuns.  This  society 
did  not  last  long,  but  in  the  meantime  Aelred  had  organized 
at  Ealing  an  association  of  ten  young  men.  They  rented 
a  house,  in  which  they  spent  as  much  time  as  their  various 
occupations  permitted,  saying  such  Offices  as  they  were 
able  to  say  together.  This  quasi-common  life  continued 
for  two  years.^ 

The  year  1895  marks  a  new  stage.  The  Oblates  were 
invited  to  come  to  the  parish  of  St.  John's,  Isle  of  Dogs, 
and  to  test  themselves  for  a  definite  religious  community. 
Aelred  accepted  for  himself,  and  made  the  following  state- 
ment to  the  Oblates :  "The  Oblates  of  St.  Benedict  consist 
of  men  living  in  the  world  under  yearly  vows  of  Poverty, 
Chastity  and  Obedience,  and  observing  the  Rule  of  St.  Bene- 
dict so  far  as  their  secular  state  of  life  allows.  The  chief 
object  is  to  discover  and  test  individual  vocations  for  the 
Monastic  State;  to  learn  the  Rule  and  customs  of  the  Re- 
ligious life,  and  in  this  manner  to  prevent  the  failure  of 
vocations  when  the  Regular  Community  should  be  formed. 
In  the  future  the  whole  Rule  of  St.  Benedict  is  to  be  ob- 
served in  its  primitive  austerity,  with  all  the  ancient  customs 
and  traditions  of  the  Benedictine  Order."  ^  He  then  pro- 
ceeded to  sketch  the  three  phases  of  the  Religious  Life. 
There  were  to  be :  ( i )  A  community  of  contemplative 
monks,  living  in  the  country  and  spending  their  time  in 
prayer,  study  and  manual  work;  (2)  A  house  of  Active 
Religious,  under  the  same  Rule  slightly  modified,  in  London 
or  some  other  great  city,  working  among  the  poor  and  the 
needy;  and  (3)  Men — lawyers,  doctors,  etc. — living  in  the 

^  Ibid.,  p.  13. 
-Ibid.,  p.  14. 


174 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


same  House,  under  the  same  Rule,  with  the  same  Vows, 
each  working  in  his  own  sphere.  Aelred  hoped  that  the 
work  might  begin  with  the  second  phase,  such  as  was  then 
offered  in  the  parish  of  St.  John's,  and  that  this  might 
enable  the  first  to  be  entered  upon  later,^  The  Oblates 
seemed  impressed  with  the  urgency  of  the  claims,  but  not 
one  agreed  to  join  their  leaders  in  the  attempt. 

Aelred's  resolution  remained  unshaken.  On  Easter  Sun- 
day 1896,  he  was  clothed  as  a  novice  by  the  chaplain  of  the 
Benedictine  Nuns,  then  at  Mailing  Abbey.^  During  the 
next  two  years  he  worked  in  the  parish  of  St.  John's,  Isle 
of  Dogs.  He  was  treated  with  courtesy  and  sympathy  by 
the  clergy  in  that  parish;  but  toward  the  close  of  1897, 
Aelred  felt  that  he  should  retire  to  the  country  in  order  to 
live  the  contemplative  life.  Through  the  influence  of  the 
Rev.  D.  G.  Cowan,  he  secured  an  interview  with  Dr.  Temple, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  on  Feb.  11,  1898.  The  Arch- 
bishop was  deeply  interested  in  the  restoration  of  the  Re- 
ligious Life  and  expressed  a  great  veneration  for  the  Bene- 
dictine Rule.^  Three  days  later  he  sent  him  the  authoriza- 
tion for  his  solemn  Profession  as  a  monk  under  the  Holy 
Rule  of  St.  Benedict.*  This  Profession  was  made  in  the 
Chapel  of  West  Mailing  Abbey,  Feb.  20,  1898. 

During  the  summer  of  1898  Father  Aelred  and  a  Brother 
who  had  joined  him  spent  some  time  at  West  Mailing. 
While  they  were  looking  for  a  permanent  home.  Father 

1  Ibid.,  p.  15. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  20. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  21 ;  cf.  Memoirs  of  Archbishop  Temple,  by  Seven  Friends, 
ed.  by  E.  G.  Sandford,  2  vols.  (London,  1906),  ii,  41. 

*  Lambeth  Palace,  Feb.  14,  1898.  "My  dear  Sir :  You  have  my  per- 
mission to  ask  Mr.  Richards,  the  chaplain  of  West  Mailing  Abbey,  to 
receive  your  profession  and  he  has  hereby  my  sanction  for  receiving 
it."  (Reproduced,  ibid.,  p.  23).  This  act  has  been  often  cited  by  the 
advocates  of  monasticism  in  their  desire  for  ecclesiastical  sanction. 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN 


175 


Page,  then  Superior  of  the  Society  of  St.  John  the  Evange- 
list, Cowley,  being  greatly  interested  in  this  new  attempt, 
invited  them  to  visit  Cowley.  Here  they  spent  two  months 
and  gained  much  inspiration.^  Still  unable  to  find  a  house, 
they  accepted  Page's  offer  to  go  and  help  the  Cowley 
Fathers  in  their  London  House  at  29  Great  Titchfield  Street. 
They  were  able  here  to  have  their  own  chapel.  Many  young 
men  were  attracted  to  this  House,  some  of  whom  later  were 
professed.  On  September  24,  1898,  a  Novice  made  his 
simple  vows  and  a  Postulant  entered  the  noviciate.^  Later 
in  the  autumn,  the  three  Brothers  moved  to  "The  Retreat," 
a  small  house  about  two  miles  from  Milton  Abbas  in  Dor- 
setshire. 

In  the  autumn  of  1900,  owing  to  a  change  in  the  owner- 
ship of  Milton  Abbas,  the  community  had  to  seek  a  fresh 
home.  The  Rev.  W.  Done  Bushell  offered  them  a  tem- 
porary asylum  on  Caldey  Island,  which  he  owned.^  They 
accepted,  and  for  fifteen  months  they  worked  to  make  their 
new  location  a  suitable  home  for  their  community.  The 
work  and  hardship  welded  them  into  a  homogeneous  body. 
More  money,  however,  was  needed  to  equip  the  place  prop- 
erly; and  therefore  early  in  1902  they  were  glad  to  accept 
the  generous  offer  of  Lord  Halifax  to  occupy  Painsthorpe 
in  Yorkshire.^ 

The  year  1902  marks  the  second  important  stage  in  their 
development.  On  February  23,  the  Charter  ^  was  signed 
by  the  seven  Brothers  of  the  community,  announcing  their 
choice  of  Father  Aelred  as  Abbot,  and  asking  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  to  sanction  the  community  and  the 
election.  This  he  did  in  May,  and  the  Order  of  St.  Benedict 
thus  became  a  recognized  institution  of  the  English  Church. 

^Ibid.,  p.  24.  *Ibid.,  p.  30. 

2  Ihid.,  p.  25.  6  For  facsimile  vide,  ibid.,  p.  32. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  27. 


176 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


When  the  community  moved  from  Caldey  to  Painsthorpe, 
it  received  the  recognition  and  sympathy  of  the  Archbishop 
of  York  and  the  rector  of  the  parish  became  the  editor  of 
the  official  history  of  the  Order.^  The  final  act  of  ecclesi- 
astical recognition  was  the  installation  of  the  abbot.  In 
1903  Bishop  Grafton  of  Fond-du-Lac  came  to  visit  Lord 
Halifax.  At  the  the  suggestion  of  Aelred,  the  Archbishop 
of  York  permitted  Bishop  Grafton  to  perform  the  act  of 
Blessing  and  Installation  on  October  30.  This  same  bishop 
ordained  Aelred  deacon  and  priest  in  November,  1904,  at 
Ripon,  Wisconsin,  U.  S.  A.,  while  the  Abbot  was  visiting 
Grafton  to  consider  the  possibility  of  founding  a  Benedic- 
tine House  in  his  diocese.^ 

The  community  was  limited  in  its  growth  by  the  size  of 
the  house  at  Painsthorpe.  In  the  autumn  of  1905  Lord 
Halifax  was  considering  the  enlargement  of  the  building, 
when  the  purchase  of  Caldey  Island  was  made  possible.^ 
On  July  20,  1906,  the  contract  of  sale  was  signed,  "and  the 
final  conveyance  of  the  freehold  of  the  Island  to  a  trust 
formed  of  the  Professed  members  of  the  community  was 
effected  on  Sept.  29,  1906."  *  The  community,  now  eight- 
een in  number,  left  Painsthorpe  on  Oct.  17,  1906;  and  at  its 

1  Rev.  W.  R.  Shepherd. 

-  Ibid.,  p.  40 ;  cf.  Rogers  in  A  Franciscan  Revival,  p.  43. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  42. 

4  Ibid.,  p.  42.  This  fact  is  important  owing  to  the  later  dispute  over 
the  ownership  of  Caldey  Island  when  the  Community  went  over  to 
Rome.  In  1908  Abbot  Aelred  wrote:  "In  connection  with  the  passing 
away  of  Father  Ignatius,  I  have  been  asked  several  times  what  would 
happen  to  Caldey  in  the  event  of  my  death.  .  .  .  Upon  the  completion 
of  the  purchase,  the  whole  property  was  at  once  invested  in  a  Trust 
consisting  of  Solemnly  Professed  members  of  this  Community  and  to 
ensure  the  preservation  of  Caldey  to  the  Church  of  England.  My 
death  could  make  no  diflFerence  to  the  carrying  out  of  this  Trust."  {Pax, 
Dec,  1908,  p.  96).  But  in  May,  1913,  the  Abbot  explains  that  in  1912 
the  interests  were  settled  and  the  Trust  freed  from  the  conditions 
depending  upon  them.     {Pax,  May,  1913,  p.  221). 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN  1 65 

Lyne  called  Miss  Sellon,  "My  mother  Superior,"  and  Pusey 
"My  father  in  God,"  and  treasured  relics  of  both  in  Llan- 
thony  Abbey.  Almost  up  to  his  death,  Pusey  was  the 
chosen  administrator  of  the  Sacrament  of  Penance  to 
Ignatius.  Pusey  was  his  "friend,  his  confidant,  his  arbi- 
trator in  all  situations  difficult."  ^  While  at  Plymouth 
^yne  conceived  the  idea  of  a  religious  community.  Even 
before  his  acquaintance  with  Pusey,  it  seems  that  he  had 
gathered  around  him  a  group  of  men  and  boys,  who  called 
him  "Superior"  and  their  group  the  "Society  of  the  Love 
of  Jesus."  "  This  Society  grew  to  about  forty  members. 
Lyne  went  to  Pusey  and  Miss  Sellon  for  advice  about  it, 
and  the  latter  with  Pusey's  encouragement  loaned  him  a 
house  to  begin  his  community  life.  With  two  Brothers,  he 
took  possession  of  this  house,  but  the  existence  of  the  com- 
munity was  cut  short  by  Lyne's  serious  illness.^ 

At  Bruges  where  he  went  to  recuperate,  Lyne  studied  the 
rule  of  the  Benedictine  Order.  On  his  return  in  1861  he 
took  A.  H.  Mackonochie's  place  as  curate  of  St.  George's- 
in-the-East,  London.  Here  he  assumed  the  Benedictine 
habit,  which  occasioned  much  opposition  and  caused  his 
resignation  after  nine  months,* 

In  1862  Lyne,  who  henceforth  called  himself  "Father 
Ignatius,"  issued  a  pamphlet  advocating  the  revival  of 
monasticism  in  the  Church  of  England.  This  excited  a 
heated  controversy.^  Not  content  with  this,  he  secured  two 
kindred  spirits  and  began  the  Order  of  St.  Benedict  at  Clay- 
don,  near  Ipswich.  His  reasons  were  strong  and  clear. 
"Souls  are  perishing  by  thousands  close  to  our  doors.     The 

1  Ibid.,  p.  83. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  92 ;  cf.  Gilg.,  op.  cit.,  S.  2>77- 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  92-100;  cf.  Kelway,  George  Rundle  Prynne,  pp.  146-147. 
*  Woods,  in  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  Suppl.  ii  (New  York, 
1912),  p.  495. 
5  Ibid. 


1 66  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

Church  of  England,  as  she  is  at  present,  is  wholly  unable  to 
grapple  with  the  task.  .  .  ,  Communities  of  men — call  them 
colleges,  monasteries,  or  whatever  you  please — appear  to  be 
the  most  suitable  for  the  object  in  view.  These  men  should 
be  unmarried  and  altogether  unshackled  by  earthly  cares 
and  domestic  ties.  Such  establishments  must  be  governed 
by  rule.  The  rule  of  St.  Benedict  has  received  universal 
^auction,  and  the  veneration  of  thirteen  centuries.  It  is 
suitable  in  almost  every  way  for  all  ages  and  times,  and  is 
consistent  with  the  most  faithful  loyalty  to  the  English 
Church."  ^ 

The  specific  objects  to  be  attained  by  this  order  were : 
(i)  The  restoration  of  the  ascetic  life  and  continual  prayer 
in  the  Church  of  England;  (2)  Home  mission  work,  by 
preaching,  visiting  the  poor,  and  teaching  the  young;  (3) 
To  afford  a  temporary  religious  retreat  for  the  secular 
clergy;  (4)  To  raise  the  tone  of  devotion  in  the  English 
Church  to  a  higher  standard  by  showing  the  real  exempli- 
fication of  the  evangelical  "Counsels  of  Perfection";  (5) 
To  aid  in  bringing  about  the  union  of  Christendom.^ 

There  were  three  orders  within  the  Community.  The 
First  Order,  to  whom  the  above  objects  apply,  observed  the 
Holy  Rule  of  St.  Benedict  in  its  integrity.  The  noviciate 
lasted,  first  for  six  months,  then  for  four,  then  for  two,  then 
for  the  year,  until  the  novice  was  considered  really  called 
by  God  to  take  the  life  vows.  The  Second  Order  consisted 
of  men  and  women  living  in  the  world,  and  yet  leading  in 
their  own  homes  a  strictly  religious  life,  using  a  prescribed 
dress,  reciting  the  canonical  day  hours  according  to  the 
Benedictine  Use,  and  also  observing  the  five  rules  of  the 
Third  Order.     This  Third  Order  consisted  of  men,  women 

1  Brother  Ignatius,  in  the  Guardian,  Oct.  26,  1864,  p.  1031. 

2  Kalendar  of  the  English  Church  for  the  Year  1867  (London,  1867- 
1907),  p.  185. 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN 


167 


and  children  bound  by  solemn  promise  to  obey  five  definite 
rules  regulating:  (i)  Their  attendance  at  the  holy  mys- 
teries of  the  Church;  (2)  Self-examination;  (3)  The  use 
of  a  prayer  on  behalf  of  the  Society;  (4)  The  giving  of 
alms;  and  (5)  Obedience  to  the  Superior/ 

This  community  v^as  the  object  of  many  attacks.  In 
1863  Ignatius  obtained  a  property  at  Elm  Hill,  near  Nor- 
wich.^ He  built  the  chapel  at  his  own  expense  and  his 
father  helped  to  support  the  establishment.^  The  bishops 
never  gave  Ignatius  any  sanction  in  this  work,  but  they  did 
not  make  any  formal  objection  to  his  building  a  monastery.* 
The  Bishop  of  Norwich,  however,  inhibited  him  from 
preaching  in  his  diocese.  There  was  much  public  criticism 
and  scandal;  and  the  charges  of  Romanism  seem  to  have 
had  some  ground.  An  ex-Franciscan  monk,  who  had  sung 
at  Ignatius'  services,  wrote  of  the  monastery:  "Truly 
everything  done  in  it  was  Roman-like.  They  had  candles, 
altars.  Virgins,  Saints,  Relics,  Beads,  Host,  and  a  host  of 
other  things;  and  the  Anglicans  here  said  it  was  more  like 
Rome  than  anything  else.  Still  Ignatius,  O.  S.  B.  called 
himself  an  English,  and  not  a  Roman,  monk;  and  it  was 
known  as  the  Norwich  Monastery."  ^  Ignatius  wore  san- 
dals and  shaved  his  head.  There  is  extant  a  description  of 
the  gorgeous  ceremonies  with  which  the  monks  celebrated 
the  Feast  of  the  Assumption  of  the  Virgin  Mary.® 

Attacks  from  without  ^  and  dissension  within  soon  began 

1  Ibid. 

2  Gilg.  op.  cit.,  p.  377. 

2  Parliamentary  Report,  1870,  vii,  196  et  seq.  Testimony  of  his 
Father,  Francis  Lyne. 

4  Ibid. 

^  Widdows,  Letters  by  F.  G.  Widdows,  Frater  Aloysius,  Ex-Fran- 
ciscan Monk   (Dundee,  1879),  p.  4. 

^  Guardian,  Aug.  24,  1864,  quoting  from  the  Norwich  Argus. 

^  Guardian,  Oct.  26,  1864. 


1 68  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

to  weaken  the  Society.  The  same  ex-Franciscan  wrote : 
"Ignatius  and  his  monks  had  not  the  policy  of  the  Roman 
Cathohc  monks,  because  the  latter  keep  all  scandals  to  them- 
selves, and  keep  them  within  monastery  walls."  ^  A  priest 
of  the  Third  Order  said  in  defence  of  Ignatius  that  there 
were  no  scandals  while  the  Superior  was  at  Norwich,  but 
that  he  was  compelled  to  be  absent  so  often  raising  money.^ 
In  spite  of  the  opposition  and  scandals,  many  clergy,  how- 
ever sympathized  with  Ignatius  and  some  joined  the  Third 
Order.''  As  to  the  size  of  the  establishment  at  Norwich, 
a  hostile  ex-Brother  writes  that  even  at  its  zenith,  there 
were  not  as  many  as  150  in  the  entire  Order — "men, 
women,  boys,  girls,  and  infants."  *  After  a  stormy  career 
of  about  three  years,  Ignatius  found  himself  dispossessed 
of  his  property  through  a  flaw  in  the  title-deed ;  ^  and  in 
1866  he  retired  to  a  house  in  Chale,  loaned  him  by  Pusey. 
His  three  years'  work  was  not  without  some  fruits,  at  least 
in  the  opinion  of  his  followers.  For  instance,  the  subject 
of  monasticism  had  been  ventilated  and  many  prejudices 
dispelled.  The  Catholic  movement  had  received  a  great 
impetus.  Moreover,  the  Diocese  of  Norwich  had  been 
greatly  changed,  the  Catholic  doctrines  having  been  boldly 
preached  and  gladly  heard  by  hundreds.''  The  following 
judgment  of  a  friend  of  monasteries  is  enlightening  and 
seems  very  fair.     "The  Brotherhood  of  the  Order  of  St. 

1  Widdows,  op.  cit.,  p.  6. 

^Guardian,  Sept.  12,  1866,  p.  951;  cf.  Temple  Bar  (Nov.,  1865),  xv, 

139- 

3  Guardian,  May  20,  1866,  p.  538. 

*  Guardian,  Sept.  26,  1866,  p.  997. 

^'Guardian,  Sept.  12,  1866,  p.  951. 

^  Ibidr.,  cf.  Parliamentary  Report,  1870,  vii,  p.  196  et  seq. 

The  popular  interest  in  Ignatius  is  shown  by  the  following:  "It  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  speak  of  his  personal  appearance,  for  you  may  see 
his  photograph,  vestments,  properties,  and  all  in  the  first  shop-window 
you  pass."     Temple  Bar,  xv,  141    (1865). 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN  l6i 

SEC.    II.    THE  REVIVED  AGITATION   FOR   BROTHERHOODS 

For  almost  two  decades  after  Newman  left  Littlemore 
for  Rome,  the  Church  of  England  heard  little  of  monas- 
teries. The  sad  memory  of  that  event  and  the  bright 
promises  of  the  Sisterhood  movement  served  to  turn  atten- 
tion elsewhere.^  In  the  sixties,  however,  the  Sisterhoods 
being  firmly  established,  the  minds  of  the  High  Church 
wing  were  turned  again  toward  monastic  orders  of  men. 
The  arguments  of  Froude,  Newman,  Neale  and  other  ad- 
vocates of  earlier  years  were  echoed  in  substance  if  not  in 
form ;  and  to  these  some  new  reasons  were  added. 

A  modern  Anglican  monk  has  very  frankly  written: 
"The  real  reason  for  the  restoration  of  the  Religious  life  is 
that  it  represents  one  aspect  of  the  Christian  ideal  without 
which  the  Gospel  is  misrepresented.  But  there  are  lower, 
utilitarian  motives  which  we  must  notice."  ^  It  was  these 
utilitarian  motives  which  were  chiefly  emphasized  in  the 
sixties.  For  example,  clerical  celibacy  was  praised  not  so 
much  for  its  intrinsic  worth  as  for  its  aid  to  efficiency.     It 

1  In  this  period  three  men  made  approaches  to  monastic  institutions. 
"In  1849  George  R.  Prynne  endeavored  to  establish  a  brotherhood  at  St. 
Peter's  Plymouth.  In  May,  1855,  Edward  Steere  began  a  community 
for  men,  the  Brotherhood  of  St.  James,  at  Tamworth,  but  the  experi- 
ment seems  to  have  failed  within  a  year."  Ollard,  in  Dictionary  of 
English  Church  History  (London,  1912),  pp.  501-502. 

Charles  Lowder,  leader  of  the  St.  George's  Mission  in  London,  wrote 
to  his  father  in  1856:  "My  desire  is  to  make  it  a  thoroughly  Catholic 
work,  a  life  of  poverty  and  self-denial,  and  dedication  to  God's  service, 
and  if  it  may  be,  the  revival  of  a  really  Religious  Order  for  mission- 
ary workmen  trained  in  holy  living  for  the  work  of  winning  souls. 
Dr.  Pusey  and  others  wish  me  to  go."  Trench,  Charles  Lowder,  A 
Biography  (London,  1885),  p.  86.  To  this  end  he  studied  the  "Life  of 
St.  Vincent  de  Paul,"  and  actually  organized  his  curates  in  a  Parochial 
Clergy  House.  But  a  regular  monastic  order  was  never  worked  out. 
In  February,  1868,  three  of  his  four  curates  were  received  into  the 
Roman  faith.    Ibid.,  p.  232. 

-Bull,  The  Revival  of  the  Religious  Life   (New  York,  1914),  p.  75. 


1 62  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

was  shown  that  the  single  priest  is  more  easily  moved  from 
place  to  place ;  he  has  no  household  worries  to  distract  him ; 
he  has  no  temptation  to  accumulate  wealth ;  he  is  not  afraid 
to  enter  diseased  homes;  he  would  have  no  interests  but 
those  of  the  Church :  and  with  all  these  advantages,  he 
would  be  less  expensive  to  the  Church.^ 

A  second  outstanding  argument  for  religious  orders  was 
the  lack  of  clergy.  The  advocates  held  that  the  candidates 
are  decreasing,  and  it  is  vain  to  look  for  this  clerical  work 
to  be  done  by  the  classes  from  which  the  clergy  are  drawn.^ 
There  are  many  available  men  in  the  lower  classes  anxious 
for  religous  work.  They  could  be  secured  and  trained  for 
work  in  the  slums  and  missions  if  monasteries  were  es- 
tablished.^ The  parish  clergy,  overworked  and  too  few,  can 
not  reach  the  masses.*  The  success  of  the  Roman  Church 
in  reaching  these  people  is  due  to  its  friars,  who  can  preach, 
conduct  "missions"  and  retreats.^  These  friars  could  fur- 
nish a  different  type  of  religious  service  for  the  masses 
who  are  not  attracted  by  the  formality  of  the  churches. 
They  would  be  valuable  as  Confessors.^ 

Another  reason  for  monastic  orders  was  the  desire  for 
the  religious  life  among  the  curates.  They  feel  the  lone- 
liness of  their  work  and  the  need  of  cloisters.  The  taking 
of  these  parochial  men  into  the  religious  life  will  be  balanced 
by  men  who  find  themselves  unfitted  for  celibacy  and  the 
"regular"  life,  and  who  will  therefore  come  into  the  secular 

1  Vaux,  "Clerical  Celibacy,"  in  Shipley,  The  Church  and  the  World 
(London,  1866),  p.  171  et  seq. 

2  Baring-Gould,  "On  the  Revival  of  Religious  Confraternities,"  in 
Shipley,  op.  cit.,  p.  96. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  106. 
*Ibid.,  p.  93. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  97  et  seq.;  cf.  Vaux,  "Missions  and  Preaching  Orders,"  in 
Shipley,  op.  cit.,  pp.  180-183. 
6  Vaux,  op.  cit.,  p.  184. 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN  1 63 

work.  These  will  be  at  liberty  to  depart.^  Other  argu- 
ments cited  were :  ( i )  The  value  of  monks  in  foreign 
missions,  as  shown  by  the  Roman  Church;^  (2)  Their 
usefulness  in  conducting  "Retreats"  and  revivals;*  (3) 
They  would  provide  places  of  safety  for  the  weakly  in  mind 
or  body,  the  aged,  the  drunkard,  etc.;*  (4)  They  would 
make  the  cathedral  establishments  productive  of  something 
useful;  ^  (5)  Religious  orders  would  serve  to  counteract  the 
desire  for  ecclesiastical  preferment;^  (6)  They  would  check 
the  mercenary  and  worldly  spirit  of  the  age;^  (7)  By 
teaching  the  world  true  poverty,  these  orders  would  help  to 
solve  the  social  and  industrial  problems;^  (8)  There  is  a 
great  need  of  specialists  and  teachers  superior  to  those 
among  whom  they  work,  and  these  monastics  would  be 
superior  in  experience,  spiritual  attainments  and  the  con- 
quest of  the  lower  nature.'' 

With  this  emphasis  on  utilitarian  arguments,  it  was  na- 
tural that  the  orders  suggested  would  be  active  rather  than 
contemplative.^"  One  of  the  spokesmen  for  monasticism 
said  that  the  Carthusian  type  was  too  contemplative,  the 
Cistercian  too  agricultural,  and  the  Dominican  too  severe; 
even  the  Franciscan  would  need  modification ;  but  "Congre- 
gations, like  the  Passionists,  Redemptorists  or  Oblates, 
would  raise  no  prejudices,  the  vows  being  simple  and  the 
dress  not  peculiar."  ^^     Another  leader  suggests  orders  like 

1  Baring-Gould,  op.  cit.,  pp.  106-107. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  109. 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  iio-iii. 

*  Woodhouse,  Monasticism,  p.  353. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  361. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  360. 

7  Ibid.,  p.  349.     Cf.  Bull,  op.  cit.,  p.  68. 

8  "G.  C.,"  in  Cowley  Evangelist   (1909-1910),  pp.  1-7. 
^  Woodhouse,  op.  cit.,  p.  347. 

10  Baring-Gould,  ibid.,  p.  109. 
'^'^  Ibid.,  p.  109. 


1 64  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

the  Franciscans  or  S.  Vincent  de  Paul.^  With  these  argu- 
ments and  these  ideals,  it  will  be  interesting  to  see  what 
orders  actually  came  to  be  established. 

SEC.  III.    FATHER  IGNATIUS  AND  THE  ORDER  OF  ST.  BENEDICT 

Joseph  Leycester  Lyne  was  ordained  deacon  on  Dec.  23, 
i860,  the  Bishop  of  Exeter  imposing  a  condition  that  he 
should  not  preach  in  his  diocese  for  three  years  because  of 
his  eccentricity  and  impatience  of  discipline.^  George  R. 
Prynne  offered  him  a  curacy  at  St.  Mary's,  Plymouth.  In 
this  work  he  showed  a  very  devotional  spirit.  Pryme, 
writing  to  Lyne's  mother,  said:  "He  was  animated  by  a 
very  true  spirit  of  devotion  in  carrying  out  such  work  as 
was  assigned  to  him;  and  his  earnest  and  loving  character 
largely  won  the  affections  of  those  among  whom  he 
ministered."  ^ 

At  Plymouth  Lyne  formed  two  friendships  which  were 
very  important  in  his  future  career.  These  two  friends 
were  Pusey  and  Miss  Sellon.  According  to  his  biographer, 
Mme.  Bertouch,  these  two  were  "the  foster-parents  of  the 
monk's  vocation,  or  at  any  rate  of  its  consummation."  * 

^  Vaux,  op.  cit.,  p.   152  et  seq. 

Thirty  years  later  a  friend  of  monasticism  could  write  that  many 
have  been  converted  to  the  active  orders  but  not  to  the  contemplative. 
Yet  he  thinks  these  furnish  the  very  salt  of  the  earth  and  of  the  Church, 
saving  them  from  corruption.  Their  feasibility  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury is  shown  by  the  flourishing  orders  of  Carthusians  at  Cowfold  in 
Sussex  and  in  France,  and  by  the  Cistercians  of  La  Trappe  in  France 
and  of  St.  Bernard  in  Leicestershire.  Woodhouse,  op.  cit.,  pp.  351  and 
378.  This  comparison  with  the  Roman  Catholic  foundations  bears  out 
the  thesis  of  chapter  ii. 

2  Gilg.  "Die  Renaissance  des  Klosterwesens  in  der  anglikanischen 
Kirche,"  in  Internationale  Kirchliche  Zeitschrift,  1913,  S.,  277- 

3  Kelway,  George  Rundle  Prynne   (London,  1905),  p.  146. 

*  Bertouch,  Life  of  Father  Ignatius,  O.  S.  B.,  the  Monk  of  Llanthony 
(London,  1904),  p.  82. 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN 


173 


that  the  Benedictine  Life  had  already  been  revived  for  wo- 
men, and  hence  was  feasible  for  men,  Aelred  was  admitted 
into  the  Oblates  of  St.  Benedict,  an  association  of  young 
men  organized  by  the  chaplain  of  the  nuns.  This  society 
did  not  last  long,  but  in  the  meantime  Aelred  had  organized 
at  Ealing  an  association  of  ten  young  men.  They  rented 
a  house,  in  which  they  spent  as  much  time  as  their  various 
occupations  permitted,  saying  such  Offices  as  they  were 
able  to  say  together.  This  quasi-common  life  continued 
for  two  years.^ 

The  year  1895  marks  a  new  stage.  The  Oblates  were 
invited  to  come  to  the  parish  of  St.  John's,  Isle  of  Dogs, 
and  to  test  themselves  for  a  definite  religious  community. 
Aelred  accepted  for  himself,  and  made  the  following  state- 
ment to  the  Oblates :  "The  Oblates  of  St.  Benedict  consist 
of  men  living  in  the  world  under  yearly  vows  of  Poverty, 
Chastity  and  Obedience,  and  observing  the  Rule  of  St.  Bene- 
dict so  far  as  their  secular  state  of  life  allows.  The  chief 
object  is  to  discover  and  test  individual  vocations  for  the 
Monastic  State;  to  learn  the  Rule  and  customs  of  the  Re- 
ligious life,  and  in  this  manner  to  prevent  the  failure  of 
vocations  when  the  Regular  Community  should  be  formed. 
In  the  future  the  whole  Rule  of  St.  Benedict  is  to  be  ob- 
served in  its  primitive  austerity,  with  all  the  ancient  customs 
and  traditions  of  the  Benedictine  Order."  "  He  then  pro- 
ceeded to  sketch  the  three  phases  of  the  Religious  Life. 
There  were  to  be :  ( i )  A  community  of  contemplative 
monks,  living  in  the  country  and  spending  their  time  in 
prayer,  study  and  manual  work;  (2)  A  house  of  Active 
Religious,  under  the  same  Rule  slightly  modified,  in  London 
or  some  other  great  city,  working  among  the  poor  and  the 
needy;  and  (3)  Men — lawyers,  doctors,  etc. — living  in  the 

1  Ibid.,  p.  13. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  14. 


174 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


same  House,  under  the  same  Rule,  with  the  same  Vows, 
each  working  in  his  own  sphere.  Aelred  hoped  that  the 
work  might  begin  with  the  second  phase,  such  as  was  then 
offered  in  the  parish  of  St.  John's,  and  that  this  might 
enable  the  first  to  be  entered  upon  later. ^  The  Oblates 
seemed  impressed  with  the  urgency  of  the  claims,  but  not 
one  agreed  to  join  their  leaders  in  the  attempt. 

Aelred's  resolution  remained  unshaken.  On  Easter  Sun- 
day 1896,  he  was  clothed  as  a  novice  by  the  chaplain  of  the 
Benedictine  Nuns,  then  at  Mailing  Abbey.^  During  the 
next  two  years  he  worked  in  the  parish  of  St.  John's,  Isle 
of  Dogs.  He  was  treated  with  courtesy  and  sympathy  by 
the  clergy  in  that  parish;  but  toward  the  close  of  1897, 
Aelred  felt  that  he  should  retire  to  the  country  in  order  to 
live  the  contemplative  life.  Through  the  influence  of  the 
Rev.  D.  G.  Cowan,  he  secured  an  interview  with  Dr.  Temple, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  on  Feb.  11,  1898.  The  Arch- 
bishop was  deeply  interested  in  the  restoration  of  the  Re- 
ligious Life  and  expressed  a  great  veneration  for  the  Bene- 
dictine Rule.^  Three  days  later  he  sent  him  the  authoriza- 
tion for  his  solemn  Profession  as  a  monk  under  the  Holy 
Rule  of  St.  Benedict.*  This  Profession  was  made  in  the 
Chapel  of  West  Mailing  Abbey,  Feb.  20,  1898. 

During  the  summer  of  1898  Father  Aelred  and  a  Brother 
who  had  joined  him  spent  some  time  at  West  Mailing. 
While  they  were  looking  for  a  permanent  home.  Father 

^Ihid.,  p.  IS. 

^Ibid.,  p.  20. 

s  Ibid.,  p.  21 ;  cf.  Memoirs  of  Archbishop  Temple,  by  Seven  Friends, 
ed.  by  E.  G.  Sandford,  2  vols.  (London,  1906),  ii,  41. 

*  Lambeth  Palace,  Feb.  14,  1898.  "My  dear  Sir :  You  have  my  per- 
mission to  ask  Mr.  Richards,  the  chaplain  of  West  Mailing  Abbey,  to 
receive  your  profession  and  he  has  hereby  my  sanction  for  receiving 
it."  (Reproduced,  ibid.,  p.  23).  This  act  has  been  often  cited  by  the 
advocates  of  monasticism  in  their  desire  for  ecclesiastical  sanction. 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN 


175 


Page,  then  Superior  of  the  Society  of  St.  John  the  Evange- 
list, Cowley,  being  greatly  interested  in  this  new  attempt, 
invited  them  to  visit  Cowley.  Here  they  spent  two  months 
and  gained  much  inspiration.^  Still  unable  to  find  a  house, 
they  accepted  Page's  offer  to  go  and  help  the  Cowley 
Fathers  in  their  London  House  at  29  Great  Titchfield  Street. 
They  were  able  here  to  have  their  own  chapel.  Many  young 
men  were  attracted  to  this  House,  some  of  whom  later  were 
professed.  On  September  24,  1898,  a  Novice  made  his 
simple  vows  and  a  Postulant  entered  the  noviciate.^  Later 
in  the  autumn,  the  three  Brothers  moved  to  "The  Retreat," 
a  small  house  about  two  miles  from  Milton  Abbas  in  Dor- 
setshire. 

In  the  autumn  of  1900,  owing  to  a  change  in  the  owner- 
ship of  Milton  Abbas,  the  community  had  to  seek  a  fresh 
home.  The  Rev.  W.  Done  Bushell  offered  them  a  tem- 
porary asylum  on  Caldey  Island,  which  he  owned.^  They 
accepted,  and  for  fifteen  months  they  worked  to  make  their 
new  location  a  suitable  home  for  their  community.  The 
work  and  hardship  welded  them  into  a  homogeneous  body. 
More  money,  however,  was  needed  to  equip  the  place  prop- 
erly; and  therefore  early  in  1902  they  were  glad  to  accept 
the  generous  offer  of  Lord  Halifax  to  occupy  Painsthorpe 
in  Yorkshire.* 

The  year  1902  marks  the  second  important  stage  in  their 
development.  On  February  23,  the  Charter  ^  was  signed 
by  the  seven  Brothers  of  the  community,  announcing  their 
choice  of  Father  Aelred  as  Abbot,  and  asking  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  to  sanction  the  community  and  the 
election.  This  he  did  in  May,  and  the  Order  of  St.  Benedict 
thus  became  a  recognized  institution  of  the  English  Church. 

^Ibid.,  p.  24.  *Ibid.,  p.  30. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  25.  5  por  facsimile  vide,  ibid.,  p.  32. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  27. 


1^6  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

When  the  community  moved  from  Caldey  to  Painsthorpe, 
it  received  the  recognition  and  sympathy  of  the  Archbishop 
of  York  and  the  rector  of  the  parish  became  the  editor  of 
the  official  history  of  the  Order/  The  final  act  of  ecclesi- 
astical recognition  was  the  installation  of  the  abbot.  In 
1903  Bishop  Grafton  of  Fond-du-Lac  came  to  visit  Lord 
Halifax.  At  the  the  suggestion  of  Aelred,  the  Archbishop 
of  York  permitted  Bishop  Grafton  to  perform  the  act  of 
Blessing  and  Installation  on  October  30.  This  same  bishop 
ordained  Aelred  deacon  and  priest  in  November,  1904,  at 
Ripon,  Wisconsin,  U.  S.  A.,  while  the  Abbot  was  visiting 
Grafton  to  consider  the  possibility  of  founding  a  Benedic- 
tine House  in  his  diocese.^ 

The  community  was  limited  in  its  growth  by  the  size  of 
the  house  at  Painsthorpe.  In  the  autumn  of  1905  Lord 
Halifax  was  considering  the  enlargement  of  the  building, 
when  the  purchase  of  Caldey  Island  was  made  possible.^ 
On  July  20,  1906,  the  contract  of  sale  was  signed,  "and  the 
final  conveyance  of  the  freehold  of  the  Island  to  a  trust 
formed  of  the  Professed  members  of  the  community  was 
effected  on  Sept.  29,  1906."  *  The  community,  now  eight- 
een in  number,  left  Painsthorpe  on  Oct.  17,  1906;  and  at  its 

1  Rev.  W.  R.  Shepherd. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  40;  cf.  Rogers  in  A  Franciscan  Revival,  p.  43. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  42. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  42.  This  fact  is  important  owing  to  the  later  dispute  over 
the  ownership  of  Caldey  Island  when  the  Community  went  over  to 
Rome.  In  1908  Abbot  Aelred  wrote:  "In  connection  with  the  passing 
away  of  Father  Ignatius,  I  have  been  asked  several  times  what  would 
happen  to  Caldey  in  the  event  of  my  death.  .  .  .  Upon  the  completion 
of  the  purchase,  the  whole  property  was  at  once  invested  in  a  Trust 
consisting  of  Solemnly  Professed  members  of  this  Community  and  to 
ensure  the  preservation  of  Caldey  to  the  Church  of  England.  My 
death  could  make  no  difference  to  the  carrying  out  of  this  Trust."  {Pax, 
Dec,  1908,  p.  96).  But  in  May,  1913,  the  Abbot  explains  that  in  1912 
the  interests  were  settled  and  the  Trust  freed  from  the  conditions 
depending  upon  them.     {Pax,  May,  1913,  p.  221). 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN 


169 


Benedict  has  not  indeed  met  with  Hke  success.  This  is  per- 
haps owing  to  an  overhasty  indiscretion  on  the  part  of  him 
who  attempted  what  was  beyond  his  strength."  ^ 

In  1867  Father  Ignatius  removed  to  Laleham,  and  at 
Feltham  near  by  he  started  a  Benedictine  community  of 
AngHcan  Sisters.^  For  two  years  he  was  busy  on  many 
preaching  missions,  but  he  was  inhibited  by  Archbishop  Tait, 
because  of  his  proposal  that  he  would  "solemnly  excom- 
municate from  Our  Holy  Congregation"  a  lady.^ 

In  1869  he  bought  the  property  at  Chapel-y-fin,  about 
fourteen  miles  from  Abergavenny.  Plans  were  made  for 
a  building  copied  after  the  ancient  abbey  of  Llanthony,  only 
four  miles  away.  It  was  called  a  "monastery"  by  the  archi- 
tect and  was  to  have  a  cloister  and  a  small  burial  ground.* 
The  laying  of  the  cornerstone  in  February,  1870  was  an 
elaborate  ceremony,  attended  by  burning  of  candles  and  in- 
cense. The  size  of  the  building  is  indicated  by  the  amount 
of  the  contract  which  was  £674,  with  more  to  be  built  later.^ 

The  pictures  of  the  life  at  Llanthony  have  been  given  us 
chiefly  by  Ignatius'  enemies.  Sister  Mary  Agnes,  O.  S.  B. 
who  left  the  Feltham  Convent,  has  written  her  views  of 
Ignatius/'  and  Dom  Cyprian  Alston,  O.  S.  B.,  who  went 

1  Bennett,  "Some  Results  of  the  Tractarian  Movement  of  1833,"  in 
Shipley,  The  Church  and  the  World,  1867,  p.  20. 

2  In  1868  he  invited  Hilda  Mary  Stewart,  a  member  of  Miss  Sellon's 
Sisterhood  whom  he  had  met  in  1861,  to  assist  him  in  founding  an 
Order  of  Enclosed  Nuns  at  Feltham.  She  received  the  Benedictine 
habit  in  the  Chapel  at  Laleham.  The  Benedictines  of  Caldey  Island 
(Caldey  Island,  1912),  p.  129.  After  several  changes  of  residence  and 
control,  this  Sisterhood  seceded  to  the  Roman  faith  in  1912. 

3  Davidson  and  Benham,  Life  of  Archibald  Campbell  Tait,  2  vols. 
(London,  1891,  i,  505. 

•*  Pari.  Report,   1870,  vii,   p.    195.     Testimony  of   Edwin   Foster,   the 
builder. 
5  Ibid. 
^Nunnery  Life  in  the  Church  of  England  (London,  1890). 


170 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


over  to  the  Benedictines  of  Caldey,  has  given  a  very  inti- 
mate and  apparently  rather  sympathetic  description  of  the 
institution  at  Llanthony/  This  dissertation  can  only  give 
the  statements  as  those  present  them.  Alston  arrived  in 
1888.  At  that  time  Ignatius  had  two  Brothers  and  two  or 
three  boys,  with  three  nuns  in  an  adjoining  convent.  The 
number  was  constantly  changing.  The  Superior  usually 
kept  boys  in  the  hope  of  developing  future  members  of  the 
Community  but  the  boys  generally  became  dissatisfied  with 
the  severe  Rule  and  left.  The  Rule  was  really  severe.  An 
attempt  was  made  to  abstain  perpetually  from  eating  meat 
(although  not  always  observed).  There  was  very  little  re- 
creation or  relaxation.  Silence  was  kept  according  to  the 
Benedictine  Rule  and  enforced  by  severe  and  ridiculous 
penalties.  Moreover  the  conditions  of  life  were  none  too 
healthy.  But  there  were  reasons  why  Ignatius  could  not 
enforce  a  strict  observance  of  these  rules.  In  the  first 
place,  he  did  not  live  the  community  life  himself.  His  oc- 
cupations, devotions,  meals,  etc.  were  apart  from  tlie  rest. 
While  he  was  sincere  and  earnest,  he  was  rather  erratic  in 
temper.  His  frequent  and  long  absences  prevented  a  close 
oversight.  There  was  consequently  tale-bearing  and  spy- 
ing among  the  members.  Another  cause  of  irregularity  was 
the  presence  of  boys  in  the  Community.  Furthermore 
Ignatius  had  no  training  in  the  Religious  Life.  He  used  to 
say  the  only  books  a  monk  needed  were  the  Bible  and  the 
Holy  Rule ;  and  as  a  result  he  kept  the  library  locked.  He 
himself  dictated  the  doctrines  to  be  accepted  and  they  were 
a  curious  blend  of  Catholic  dogma  and  Calvinism.  He 
recognized  no  ecclesiastical  superior,  and  privately  inter- 
preted the  Rule  of  St.  Benedict.  As  to  dress,  he  added  to 
the  ordinary  Benedictine  habit,  the  use  of  Franciscan  sandals 

1  In  Pax,  Dec,  1913,  p.  60  et  seq. 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN  171 

and  a  knotted  rope  for  girdle,  believing  them  more  monastic 
in  appearance.  He  borrowed  from  some  other  orders  the 
custom  of  renewing  vows  year  by  year  instead  of  admitting 
to  solemn  Profession  at  the  end  of  one  year's  Noviciate. 
He  therefore  called  them  "Professed  Novices,"  ^ 

Dom  Alston  shows  the  severity  of  the  life,  by  giving  a 
schedule  of  the  day's  activities: 

2  a.  m.     Rise. 

Until  3  :45     Matins  and  Lauds. 

3  :45-5     Household  work. 

5-6  Prime. 

6-7:30  Household  work. 

7 :30-8  Tierce  and  a  breakfast  of  dry  bread  and  coffee. 

8-10  Household  duties. 

10-12  Bible  reading;  writing,  etc. 

Noon  Sext. 
12 :30  p.  m.-i  p.  m.     Dinner. 

1-2  Siesta. 

2  None. 

Until  4 :45  Various  occupations,  gardening,  etc. 

4 :45-5  Visit  to  Blessed  Sacrament. 

5  Supper. 

6  Vespers. 
7-8  Recreation, 

8-8:15     Assembly  in  Sacristy  for  a  "Conference,"  con- 
sisting of  a  chapter  from  the  Holy  Rule  and  a 
reading  from  Butler's  Lives  of  the  Saints. 
8:15     Compline. 

Retire  immediately  afterwards,^ 

With  a  proper  allowance   for  the  exaggeration  of  the 
ex-Brother,  the  reader  can  see  that  the  life  at  Llanthony 

1  Ibid. 

2  Ibid. 


172  T^HE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

must  have  been  rather  severe/  At  any  rate  the  Commu- 
nity did  not  prosper.  At  the  death  of  Ignatius  in  1908, 
he  left  only  five  Brothers  and  a  few  Sisters.  These  were 
unable  to  carry  on  the  Community  and  from  1909  on  Llan- 
thony  Abbey  became  the  property  of  the  Benedictines  of 
Caldey  Island." 

SEC.   IV.       THE  BENEDICTINES  OF  CALDEY  ISLAND 

The  Order  of  St.  Benedict  founded  by  Father  Ignatius 
was  not  a  revival  of  pure  Benedictinism.  Ignatius  was  in- 
dependent and  erratic,  his  rules  were  eclectic.  It  was  left 
to  another  to  restore  the  precise  methods  of  the  fourteenth 
century.^ 

When  a  lad  of  twelve,  Aelred  Carlyle  found  in  his 
father's  library  a  copy  of  Rev.  Samuel  Fox's  Monks  and 
Monasteries^  "It  was  from  this  volume  that  he  first  con- 
sciously received  the  impulse  which  has  become  the  master- 
motive  of  his  life."  ^  He  kept  his  ideal  before  him;  and 
when  in  1892  he  began  his  medical  studies,  his  mind  was 
still  set  upon  the  Religious  Life  with  a  definite  attraction 
to  the  Order  of  St.  Benedict.  As  a  student  in  one  of  the 
London  hospitals  he  lived  as  closely  as  possible  according 
to  the  Rule  of  that  Order.  In  this  same  year  he  paid  an 
apparently  accidental  visit  to  the  Benedictine  nuns  at 
Twickenham,®  who  had  been  founded  with  the  sanction  of 
Dr.  Temple,  Bishop  of  London.^     The  visit  showed  him 

1  Cf.  Sister  Mary  Agnes,  Nunnery  Life,  on  the  cruelty  of  the 
penances,  p.  84  et  seq. 

2  Pax,  Dec,  1909,  pp.  121-123. 

3  Rogers,  in  A  Franciscan  Revival,  ed.  by  A.  Clifton  Kelway,  Plais- 
tow,  1908,  p.  43. 

*  Cf.  Bibliography. 

^  The  Benedictines  of  Caldey  Island,  p.  121. 

^  Founded  by  Ignatius. 

■^  Benedictines  of  Caldey  Island,  p.  13. 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN 


193 


January  i,  1891.  Kelly  laid  down  three  conditions  for  en- 
trance :  ( I )  A  man  must  be  ready  to  serve  without  pay ; 
(2)  He  must  intend  to  live  unmarried;  (3)  He  must  come 
simply  to  serve  Christ  and  be  equally  ready  to  take  what- 
ever place  or  work  was  assigned  to  him/ 

Although  a  monastic  order  was  not  yet  begun,  a  daily  rou- 
tine of  offices  and  work  was  instituted  very  similar  to  that 
in  monastic  communities.  It  was  as  follows:  6:00  a.  m., 
Matins  and  Prime ;  7  :oo,  Celebration  in  the  Church,  fol- 
lowed by  a  breakfast  of  bread  and  butter,  and  then  by  house- 
work; 9:00,  Terce,  followed  by  work;  12:00,  Sext;  12:15 
Dinner;  2:00  p.  m..  None;  6:00,  Tea,  consisting  of  bread 
and  butter;  7:00,  Evensong;  9:30,  Compline."  The  aus- 
terity of  the  life  in  the  matter  of  food  and  work  seems  to 
have  been  even  greater  than  at  Cowley  or  Mirfield. 

The  founders  of  this  training  House  soon  became  con- 
vinced that  only  a  Religious  Life  could  save  the  work  from 
individualism.  Hence  on  May  9,  1893,  Kelly  and  two 
brothers  began  a  Noviciate,  and  by  the  end  of  the  summer 
the  number  had  grown  to  six.  Father  Kelly  and  Father 
Woodward  made  the  first  Profession  on  Michaelmas  Day, 
1894.^  They  called  the  order  the  Society  of  the  Sacred 
Mission,  and  it  dates  from  the  beginning  of  the  Noviciate 
in  1893.  Four  years  later  the  Society  moved  to  Milden- 
hall  in  Suffolk,  and  a  few  years  later  it  established  itself  in 
the  House  of  the  Sacred  Mission,  Kelham,  Newark.  In 
1 901  the  Society  had  42  in  its  House,  of  whom  4  were 
priests,  9  were  lay-workers  and  29  were  students.* 

As  to  the  binding  nature  of  the  monastic  bonds,  Kelly 
writes :  "Membership  was  constituted  by  the  Profession  or 
declaration  of  an  Intention  to  serve  for  life.     If  any  one 

1  Kelly,  An  Idea  in  the  Working  (London,  1908),  p.  15. 

-Ibid.,  p.  17. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  39.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  50. 


194  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

wished  to  withdraw,  he  could  do  so  on  a  year's  notice,  but 
unless  such  notice  was  given,  the  act  was  always  assumed  to 
be  final.  We  provided  also  a  second  grade,  in  which  a  man 
might  after  ten  years  make  a  final  promise  to  the  Society."  ^ 
Students  at  the  Theological  College,  which  the  Society  con- 
ducts, are  allowed  to  join  the  community ;  and  clergy,  med- 
ical men,  teachers  or  craftsmen  are  invited  to  test  themselves 
for  the  Vocation." 

This  community  seems  to  differ  from  the  others  so  far 
noted  in  that  it  does  not  put  the  cultivation  of  the  dedicated 
life  as  its  object,  but  rather  it  makes  this  the  "basis  for 
the  effective  operation  of  a  system  whose  aim  is  to  provide 
the  Church  with  an  organized  association  of  workers."  ^ 
It  does  not  confine  itself  to  any  special  form  of  work.  Its 
first  interest  has  been  the  training  of  men  for  religious  work, 
especially  for  ordination.  It  has  worked  the  cost  of  such 
training  down  to  a  very  low  figure ;  *  and  when  necessary 
the  Society  provides  for  the  candidates  chosen,  but  such  are 
expected  to  repay  the  sum  of  £ioo  within  five  years  after 
Ordination.  It  has  men  working  abroad  in  South  Africa, 
in  Central  Africa,  under  the  U.  M.  C.  A.,  and  elsewhere. 
The  Society  also  has  charge  of  a  large  town  parish  in  Eng- 
land.^ 

A  friend  of  monasteries  attributes  the  following  special 
significance  to  this  Society :  "To  the  student  of  the  Religious 
Life,  the  Society  of  the  Sacred  Mission  has  this  importance 
— It  puts  the  Religious  Life  in  its  proper  place.  It  is  not 
for  all,  so  not  all  of  the  members  of  the  Corean  Missionary 
Brotherhood  entered  the  Society;  it  is  for  some."  ^ 
^  Ibid.,  p.  40. 

2  Official  Year  Book  of  the  Church  of  England,  1916,  p.  67. 

3  Judd,  in  Pax,  June,  1909,  p.  330. 

4  Kelly,  op.  cit.,  p.  46. 

^  Official  Year  Book  of  the  Church  of  England,  1916,  p.  67. 
•^  Rogers  in  A  Franciscan  Revival,  p.  41. 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN 


SEC.  VIII.    SOCIETY  OF  THE  DIVINE  COMPASSION 


195 


As  we  have  seen,  the  orders  of  the  Benedictines,  the  Laz- 
arists,  the  Vincentians  have  all  been  more  or  less  reproduced 
in  the  Anglican  Church.  And  now  finally  it  remains  to 
speak  of  a  Society  modeled  after  the  Franciscans.  "The 
Society  of  the  Divine  Compassion  seeks  to  revive  the  spirit 
of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  by  living  a  poor  life,  sharing  the 
privations  and  discomforts  of  ordinary  poor  people."  ^  "It 
is  a  Community  of  priests,  deacons,  and  communicant  lay- 
men, banded  together  in  a  common  life  of  Poverty,  Chastity 
and  Obedience."  ^ 

The  Society  may  be  traced  to  a  Retreat  at  Oxford,  con- 
ducted by  Father  Waggett,  S.  S.  J.  E.,  at  which  time  the 
Rule  was  drawn  up.  At  the  end  of  the  Retreat  on  Jan.  20, 
1899,  the  first  Novices,  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Pusey  House, 
bound  themselves  to  the  observance  of  the  Rule  and  Vows 
for  one  year.^  The  name.  Society  of  the  Divine  Compas- 
sion, was  chosen  because  it  represents  that  aspect  of  Al- 
mighty God  which  they  wished  specially  to  hold  up  as  the 
light  of  the  world  in  all  social  distress."  *  Two  priests  and 
one  layman  started  community  life  at  Meredith  Street, 
Plaistow,  in  1894.  Just  five  years  after  the  Rule  was 
drawn  up,  Jan.  20,  1899,  the  first  two  members  made  their 
Profession  to  Dr.  Festing,  the  Bishop  of  St.  Albans,  at  S. 
Pancras  Church.  The  Rule  had  already  been  approved  by 
Archbishop  Benson,  and  now  the  Community  itself  received 
the  episcopal  sanction.  Bishop  Festing  "celebrated  Euchar- 
ist and  blessed  the  habits,  cords  and  crucifixes,  which  were 
laid  upon  the  Altar.     He  then  received  the  vows  of  the 

^A  Franciscan  Rezrival,  Preface,  p.  vii. 
^Ibid.,  p.  I. 

3  Ibid. 

4  Roberts,  G.  Baysfield,  in  Pax,  June,  191 1,  p.  303. 


196 


THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 


kneeling  Novices,  delivered  to  each  one  his  habit,  and  gave 
him  the  name  by  which  he  was  to  be  known  in  the  Com- 
munity." ^  The  Bishop  ordained  one  brother  Deacon  and 
Priest,  and  "it  is  believed  that  this  is  the  first  instance,  since 
the  Reformation,  of  the  ordination  of  a  Religious  in  his 
habit  by  an  English  Bishop."  "  Bishop  Festing  became  the 
official  Visitor. 

In  1905  the  Society  acquired  a  house  at  Stanford-le-Hope 
in  Essex.  Here  in  the  quiet  of  the  country  and  apart  from 
all  external  work,  the  Noviciate  is  passed  and  the  reality  of 
the  Vocation  is  tested.^  At  Plaistow,  where  the  active  work 
is  carried  on,  the  Society  is  responsible  for  the  mission  dis- 
trict around  St.  Philip's  Church.  In  191 1  the  community 
had  so  grown  that  it  rented  three  houses  in  the  parish.  One 
of  the  distinctive  features  of  the  Society  is  its  artisan  work. 
"The  life  of  the  S.  D.  C.  is  a  humble  effort  to  imitate  the 
Incarnate  life  of  our  Divine  Lord.  It  has  its  parish  work, 
where  it  lives  a  neighborly  life,  going  out  to  the  more  active 
work  of  the  ministry  in  preaching  and  missions;  its  work- 
shops among  the  people,  where  it  repairs  clocks  and  watches, 
works  its  printing  presses,  decorates  churches ;  and  its  mem- 
bers may  belong  to  the  same  trade  societies  as  the  artisans 
among  whom  they  live."  *  In  190 1-2  a  smallpox  epidemic 
broke  out  in  London,  and  the  priests  of  the  S.  D.  C.  minis- 
tered to  the  patients  at  the  Isolation  Hospital  at  Dagenham 
in  Essex.  The  burial  of  the  dead  is  another  kind  of  work 
sometimes  performed  by  the  Brothers.  They  also  conduct 
lectures  and  debates  in  workingmen's  clubs.  In  short  they 
share  the  life  of  the  poorest  industrial  classes.     "Laymen 

^  A  Franciscan  Revival,  p.  i. 

2  Roberts,  in  Pax,  June,  191 1,  p.  303.  It  has  been  seen  that  Bishop 
Grafton  of  Fond-du-Lac  ordained  Dom  Aelred,  O.  S.  B.,  while  the  lat- 
ter was  on  a  visit  to  America,  vide  supra,  p. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  303 ;  cf.  A  Franciscan  Reinval,  p.  29. 

*  A  Franciscan  Revival,  p.  3. 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN  igy 

who  have  taken  Vows  can  and  do  carry  on  the  various  trades 
in  which  they  were  previously  engaged ;  and  in  the  Whitwell 
Press  (under  their  direction)  a  friar  may  be  seen  in  his 
habit,  working  at  an  electric  printing  press.  If,  however, 
the  Society  had  to  choose,  it  is  the  poor  and  suffering  whose 
appeal  it  would  most  gladly  answer."  ^  One  unique  form 
of  their  work  is  the  production  of  the  "Bethlehem  Tab- 
leaux," which  have  proved  very  popular.  And  yet  in  spite 
of  its  emphasis  on  this  active  and  varied  social  work,  the 
Society  holds  that  "the  work  is  rather  for  the  life  than  the 
life  for  the  work."  "  "The  life  must  be  the  attraction,  and 
not  the  work."  ^ 

Another  feature  of  the  life  which  is  different  from  the 
other  Orders  in  the  English  Church  is  that  there  is  no  dis- 
tinction between  "lay"  and  "choir"  members.  In  fact,  there 
is  nothing  to  prevent  a  layman's  becoming  the  Superior.* 
"The  primary  idea  of  the  Society  of  the  Divine  Compas- 
sion is  that  of  a  family  of  men,  laymen  as  well  as  priests, 
separated  from  the  world  and  consecrated  to  God  in  Holy 
Religion.  There  are  no  differences  in  dress  or  privileges. 
The  Religious  Vocation  is  no  less  the  governing  principle 
than  the  foundation  upon  which  the  Community  is  based. 
3ut  neither  by  its  Rule  nor  by  its  spirit  is  it  severed  from 
all  connection  with  the  outside  world.  On  the  contrary,  a 
great  desire  to  share  and  sanctify  the  experiences  of  the 
poor,  to  hallow  commercial  life,  and  to  recognize  the  dig- 
nity of  labor,  were  ruling  impulses  in  the  genesis  of  the 
Society."  ' 

1  Roberts,  in  Pax,  June,  1911,  p.  306. 

~  Ibid.,  p.  306. 

^A  Franciscan  Revival,  p.  11. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  3. 

5  Roberts,  in  Pax,  June,  191 1,  p.  302. 


CONCLUSION 

The  rise  of  the  Brotherhoods  and  of  a  few  representative 
Sisterhoods  has  been  sketched.  The  mention  of  Pusey,  Sel- 
lon,  Neale,  Ignatius,  and  others  recalls  the  great  opposition 
which  the  early  Orders  encountered.  No  such  martyrdom, 
however,  hallows  the  names  of  the  recent  monastic  leaders. 
The  purely  contemplative  life  has  not  yet  apparently  won 
many  supporters,  but  the  revival  of  the  "active"  and  the 
"mixed"  types  of  Community  life  has  long  since  passed 
through  the  period  of  bitter  pamphleteering  and  violent  abuse. 

Two  issues  have  been  prominent  in  the  discussions  of  the 
communities  since  their  revival.  The  first  was  the  question 
of  vows.  Almost  every  prelate  of  England  during  the  last 
fifty  years  has  been  forced  to  express  himself  as  to  his  view 
of  vows,  their  legality  and  advisability.  Those  expressions 
are  interesting  but  not  really  important,  for  each  Order  has 
found  a  way  of  maintaining  its  principles  in  regard  to  vows, 
irrespective  of  episcopal  authority.  In  some  cases,  the  vows 
are  solemn ;  in  some  they  are  simple ;  while  in  others,  no  ex- 
plicit vow  is  taken  and  only  an  "intention"  is  expressed.  But 
in  all  cases,  the  professing  candidate  at  least  feels  that  it  is 
a  service  for  life.  The  position  in  regard  to  vows  has  been 
shown  in  each  order  sketched  above,  and  nothing  further 
needs  to  be  said  on  this  more  or  less  intangible  subject. 

The  other  question  of  importance  has  been  the  relation  of 
these  monastic  orders  to  the  Church  and  the  episcopacy. 
This  subject  was  discussed  at  considerable  length  in  the  Can- 
terbury Convocation  of  1862,^  and  the  bishops  commended 
the  Sisterhoods  to  the  prayers  of  the  Church.  In  July,  1875, 
a  committee  of  the  Lower  House  of  Canterbury  Convocation 

1  Chronicle  of  Convocation,  1861-3. 

198 


COMMUNITIES  OF  MEN  199 

was  appointed  to  consider  the  rise  and  progress  of  Sister- 
hoods and  Brotherhoods.  The  report,  which  was  presented  in 
May,  1878,  called  forth  strong  resolutions  expressing  thank- 
fulness for  their  work  and  approval  of  the  episcopal  recogni- 
tion accorded  to  them.  The  wide  sympathy  for  this  revival 
was  shown  again  in  the  same  Convocation  of  1889.^ 

In  this  treatment  of  monasticism  we  have  sought  to  pull 
a  long,  and  at  times  a  fragile,  thread  of  interest.  In  the 
seventeenth  century  it  was  strong  enough  to  hold  a  number  of 
antiquaries  and  church  leaders ;  in  the  eighteenth  it  was  weak- 
ened almost  to  the  point  of  breaking,  until  the  new  fibre  was 
woven  in  by  the  French  refugee  clergy ;  but  from  that  day 
on  the  strand  of  interest  grew  stronger  until  now  it  binds 
together  in  the  conventual  life  more  than  thirty  communities 
of  men  and  women,  with  numerous  branch  Houses  through- 
out England  and  the  British  Empire. 

1  OUard  in  Dictionary  of  English  Church  History,  p.  503. 


APPENDIX  I 
Act  of  1554.     1  &  2  Phil.  &  Mary,  c.  8 

"An  Acte  repealing  all  Statutes,  Arcticles  and  Provisions 
made  against  the  See  Apostolick  of  Rome  since  the  XXth 
yere  of  King  Henry  theight,  and  also  from  thestablishment  of 
all  Spyrytuall  and  Ecclesiasticall  Possessions  and  Heredita- 
ments Conveyed  to  the  Layetye. 
Sec.  IX. 

"And  Finallie  where  certaine  Actes  and  Statutes  have  bene 
made  in  the  time  of  the  late  Scisme,  concerning  the  Landes 
and  Hereditamentes  of  Archbishoprikes  and  Bishoprikes,  the 
suppression  and  dissolucion  of  Monasteries,  Abbeis  Priories 
Chantres  Colledges  and  all  other  the  Gooddes  and  Cattalles  of 
Religious  Houses.  Since  the  whyche  tyme  the  Right  and 
Dominion  of  certaine  Landes  and  Hereditaments  gooddes  and 
cattelles  belonging  to  the  same  be  dispersed  abroade,  and 
come  to  thandes  and  possession  of  dyvers  and  sundrye  per- 
sons, who  by  gyfte,  purchase  exchange  and  other  means  ac- 
cording to  thorder  of  the  Lawes  and  Statutes  of  this  Realme 
for  the  tyme  being,  have  the  same:  For  thavoiding  of  all 
Scruples  that  might  growe  by  any  thoccasion  aforesaid,  or 
by  any  other  means  whatsoever,  It  male  please  your  Majesties 
to  be  Intercessours  and  Mediatours  to  the  said  most  Revernd 
Father  Cardinall  Poole.  That  all  such  Causes  and  Quarrelles 
as  by  pretence  of  the  said  Scisme  by  the  Popes  Holynes  or 
See  Apostolike  or  by  ani  other  Jurisdiction  Ecclesiasticall, 
maie  be  utterly  removed  and  taken  away :  so  as  all  persons 
having  sufificient  conveiance  of  the  said  Landes  and  Heredita- 
ments goods  and  cattelles  as  is  aforesaid  by  the  Common 
Lawes  Actes  or  Statutes  of  this  Realme,  may  without  Scruple 


APPENDIX  I  201 

of  Conscience  enjoy  them,  without  Impeachment  or  Troble 
by  pretence  of  any  Generall  Counsell  Canons  or  Ecclesiasticall 
Lawes,  and  clere  from  all  dangers  of  the  censures  of  the 
Churches."    Statutes  of  the  Realm,  IV,  par.  1,  p.  245. 


APPENDIX  II 

A  Sermon  Preached  by  the  Rev.  George  Henry  Glasse, 
Rector  of  Hanwell,  June  16,  1793. 

"Of  the  second  description  of  these  wretched  exiles,  the 
Monastic  clergy,  we  must  speak  with  more  than  common 
delicacy  in  a  country  where  their  order  has  long  since  been 
discontinued,  the  evil  resulting  from  its  establishment  having 
been  found  to  be  preponderate  over  the  good.  Yet  to  con- 
demn these  unfortunate  men  to  indiscriminate  censure,  be- 
cause they  were  once  the  inhabitants  of  a  convent,  would  be 
unjust — to  refuse  them  relief  when  the  iron  band  of  oppres- 
sion is  crushing  them  to  pieces,  would  be  inhuman.  Among 
them  were  many  whose  exemplary  virtues  gave  a  lustre  to 
the  contemplative  life  they  had  embraced — many  who  were 
not  a  set  of  drones  revelling  in  idle  luxury,  on  the  fruit  of 
others  labour.  There  were  among  them  persons,  the  younger 
sons  of  noble  families,  whom  the  unfeeling  partiality  of  par- 
ents had  compelled  to  withdraw  from  the  world,  that  they 
might  aggrandise  a  first-bom  son  with  their  inheritance. 
There  were  others  whose  zeal,  however  misguided,  claim  our 
reverence — who  embraced  the  profession  from  motives  merely 
conscientious — devoting  themselves  to  the  service  of  God  by 
a  life  of  austerity,  abstinence,  and  severe  mortification.  There 
were  yet  others,  who  having  once  mixed  with  the  world,  and 
having  shared  its  sins,  and  drunk  deep  of  its  sorrows  found 
relief  in  bringing  the  oblation  of  their  hearts  to  the  altar  of 
divine  mercy.  Among  them  were  persons,  who,  dedicating 
themselves  to  honourable  study,  advanced  the  best  interests 
of  learning — who  engaged  in  no  political  disputes, — no  fac- 
tious struggles  for  power — who  never  left  the  quiet  retire- 
ment of  their  cell,  but  to  relieve  the  poor,  to  bring  medicine 

202 


APPENDIX  II  203 

to  the  sick,  or  to  set  before  the  dying  the  bright  prospect  of 
immortahty.  If  there  were  corruption  in  their  institution, 
those  corruptions  should  have  been  done  away.  If  there  were 
radical  evils,  which  no  half-measures  could  remove,  the  order 
should  gradually,  and  by  gentle  means,  have  been  abolished. 
But  that  a  set  of  men,  accused  of  no  public  crime,  holding 
no  principle  dangerous  to  the  state,  unfitted,  by  their  educa- 
tion, for  any  employment  by  which  they  might  procure  their 
daily  bread — that  persons  of  this  description  should  all  at  once 
be  driven  from  their  peaceful  retreats,  as  lambs  into  the  midst 
of  wolves — that  they  should  be  reduced  to  the  horrible  neces- 
sity of  quitting  their  country,  their  profession,  and  the  exer- 
cise of  their  religion,  to  fly  into  a  land  they  knew  not — or  if 
they  remained,  that  they  should  be  compelled  to  renounce  their 
king  and  God,  or  present  their  bosoms  to  the  dagger  of  as- 
sassination ;  this  is  cruelty  so  refined,  injustice  so  complicated, 
tyranny  so  execrable  that  it  is  impossible  to  find  language 
in  which  to  proclaim  our  pity  for  the  oppressed — our  abhor- 
rence and  detestation  of  their  oppressors !"  Gentleman's 
Magazine,  LXXIII,  731  (August,  1793). 


APPENDIX  III 

The  Quotations  at  the  Beginning  of  a  Paper  Entitled 

"Revival  of  Monastic  and  Conventual  Institutions 

ON  a  Plan  Adapted  to  the  Exigencies  of  the 

Reformed  Catholic  Church  in  England'" 

"  'Quid  aliud  f uere  Monasteria  quam  officinae  virtutum ; 
jejunii  patientiae  laborum.'     (D.  Ambros,  lib.  x.  Ep.  F2.) 

"  *A  Monastery  is  a  school  of  Christian  penitence.  It  is 
a  little  community  having  its  own  offices,  in  which  each  has 
his  own  post  marked  out,  and  in  which  all  are  engaged  in 
labors  of  love;  whilst,  from  its  silence  and  peace,  the  soul, 
has  leisure  for  contemplation.'  {Brit.  Critic  LX.  Art.  Tort 
Royal.') 

"  'To  speak  seriously  and  without  passion  what  can  the  ill 
be — to  have  places  set  apart  whither  men  either  by  nature, 
turn  or  otherwise  unfit  for  the  world,  may  retire  themselves 
in  religious  company,  may  think  on  Heaven  and  good  learn- 
ing?' (  Sir  Roger  Twysden,  The  Beginners  of  a  Monastick 
Life  in  Asia,  Africa  and  Europe,  1698.) 

"  'Something  like  monasteries  for  women  would  be  a  glori- 
ous design,  and  may  be  set  on  foot  to  be  the  honor  of  a  Queen 
on  the  Throne.'     (Bishop  Burnet.)" 

— Browne,  Annals  of  the  Tractarian  Movement  (Dublin,  1856),  p. 
93,  et  scq.  This  paper  was  taken  from  the  Church  hitelligencer  and 
widely  circulated  among  the  Oxford  Party. 


204 


APPENDIX  IV 

Rules  of  the  Society  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  Devonport 

In  order  to  secure,  as  far  as  may  be,  that  the  Sisterhood 
of  Mercy  in  Devonport,  recently  estabHshed  by  the  permission 
of  Almighty  God,  should,  under  His  divine  blessing,  be  con- 
tinued upon  the  same  principles  on  which  it  was  begun,  the 
following  Regulations,  as  to  its  funds  and  operations,  have 
been  adopted,  with  the  sanction  of  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Exeter. 

I.  A  legal  instrument  has  been  prepared,  by  which  cer- 
tain of  the  Sisters  have  agreed  to  live  together,  (conforming 
to  certain  regulations,  sanctioned  by  the  Bishop,  for  the  bet- 
ter conduct  of  the  interior  of  the  Institution)  ;  but  with  free 
liberty  to  any  Sister  to  withdraw  if  it  shall  so  seem  good  to 
her. 

II.  Any  Sister  so  withdrawing,  or  in  any  way  ceasing 
to  be  a  member  of  the  Society,  shall  be  entitled  to  her  own 
personal  property ;  but  neither  she  nor  her  heirs  shall  be  en- 
titled to  any  share  of  the  common  property  of  the  Society. 

III.  The  Sisterhood  shall  belong  to  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land ;  and  if  any  Sister  should  unhappily  cease  to  be  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Church  of  England,  she  shall,  ipso  facto,  cease  to 
be  a  member  of  the  Society. 

IV.  The  object  of  the  Sisterhood  shall  be  the  education  of 
the  female  children  of  Sailors  and  Soldiers,  who  shall  have 
lost  either  parent ;  the  visiting  the  sick  and  needy ;  super- 
intendance  of  schools,  infant  or  adult,  industrial  or  educa- 
tional ;  oral  instruction  of  adults  in  smaller  classes ;  the  visit- 
ing of  female  emigrants  on  board  vessels  sailing  from  or  touch- 
ing at  the  port  of  Plymouth ;  and  any  other  purpose  of  love 
(such  as  the  care  of  hospitals  or  infirmaries,  the  temporary 

205 


2o6  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

shelter  and  training  of  distressed  women  of  good  character) 
which  God,  in  His  Good  Providence,  shall  open  to  them. 

V.  The  Bishop  of  Exeter,  for  the  time  being,  shall  be  ex 
officio  Visitor  of  the  Sisterhood;  and  all  the  internal  regula- 
tions of  the  Sisterhood  shall  be  open  to  him. 

VI.  The  Sisters,  in  visiting  the  poor  and  sick,  shall  be 
under  the  direction  of  the  Clergy  in  whose  districts  they  visit. 

VII.  The  schools  formed  by  the  Sisters  shall  be  open  at 
all  times,  for  the  inspection  and  religious  instruction  of  the 
parochial  clergy  of  the  district,  and  to  the  Diocesan  inspector 
of  the  schools  appointed  or  approved  by  the  Bishop. 

VIII.  Any  property  given  to  the  Sisterhood,  either  by  the 
Sisters  themselves,  or  by  donations  for  permanent  purposes, 
or  by  bequests,  shall  be  vested  in  the  Sisterhood;  but  the 
accounts  shall  be  at  all  times  open  to  a  person  appointed  by 
the  Bishop  to  inspect  them. 

IX.  Any  one  who  shall  hereafter  be  admitted  to  join  the 
Sisterhood,  shall  have  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  the 
Sisters  above  the  age  of  25,  with  the  sanction  of  the  Bishop. 

X.  Should  it  hereafter  unhappily  ever  become  necessary 
(which  God  avert)  to  remove  any  Sister,  it  shall  be  requisite 
that  such  removal  should  be  deemed  necessary  by  at  least  two- 
thirds  of  the  Sisters  above  the  age  of  30,  and  be  confirmed 
by  the  Bishop. 

Bequests  may  be  made  to  the  Sisterhood  under  the  title  of 
Church  of  England  Sisterhood  of  Mercy  in  Devonport 

The  Sisters  of  Mercy  at  Devonport.  Report  of  An  Inquiry  Held  by 
the  Lord  Bishop  of  Exeter.  With  an  Appendix,  Ed.  by  Richard  C. 
Rogers  (Devonport,  1849).    Appendix,  pp.  12-13. 


APPENDIX  V 

Chronological  List  of  Conventual  Communities  in  the 
Church  of  England 

1847  Community  of  St.  Thomas  the  Martyr.     Oxford. 

1848  Society  of  the  Holy  Trinity.     Devonport. 

1849  Sisterhood  of  St.  John  the  Baptist.     Clewer. 
1849  Sisterhood  of  St.  Mary.     Wantage. 

1851  Sisterhood  of  All  Saints.     Colney  Chapel,  St.  Albans. 

1852  Society  of  the  Holy  and  Undivided  Trinity. 

1854  Sisterhood  of  St.  Margaret.     East  Grinstead. 

1855  Community    of    the    Blessed    Virgin    Mary.     Queen 

Square,  Brighton. 
1855     Sisterhood  of  All  Hallows.     Ditchingham,  Norfolk. 
1858     Sisterhood  of  St.  Peter.     Horbury. 
1858     Community    of    the    Holy    Road.     North    Ormesby, 

Middlesbrough. 
1861     Community  of  St.  Peter.     Mortimer  Rd.,  Kilburn. 
1865     Society  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist.     Cowley  St.  John, 

Oxford. 

1865  Community  of  the  Mission  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Name 

of  Jesus.     Malvern  Link. 

1866  Sisters  of  Bethany.     Lloyd  Square,  Pentonville,  W.  C. 
1867.     Sisters  of  Charity,     Knowle,  Bristol. 

1869  Community  of  Reparation.     Green  St.,  Southwark. 

1870  Sisters   of   the   Church.     Randolph   Gardens,   Kilburn, 

N.  W. 
1879     St.  Katherine's  Sisterhood.     Normand  House,  Fulham, 

S.  W. 
1879    Community  of  St.  Lawrence.     Belper. 
1883     Community  of  the  Epiphany.     Truro. 

207 


2o8  THE  REVIVAL  OF  CONVENTUAL  LIFE 

1891  Society  of  the  Sacred  Mission.     Kelham,  Newark-on- 

Trent. 

1892  Community  of  the  Resurrection.     Mirfield. 

1894     Sisterhood  of  the  Ascension.     21   Seymour  St.,  Port- 
man  Sq.  W. 

1894  Society  of  the  Incarnation.     Saltley,  Birmingham. 

1895  Community  of  St.  Michael  and  All  Angels.     Hammer- 

smith. 

1896  Community  of  the  Holy  Family.     Holmhurst,  Baldslow, 

St.  Leonards-on-Sea. 

1897  Congregation    of    the    Servants    of    Christ.     Pleshey, 

Chelmsford. 
1899     Society  of  the  Divine  Compassion.     Stanford  le  Hope, 

Essex. 
Other  existing  communities  vi^hose  dates  of  origin  are 

not  known  to  the  writer  are : 
Nursing  Sisters  of  St.  John  the  Divine.     21  Drayton 

Gardens,  South  Kensington. 
Sisters  of  Our  Lady  of  Nazareth.     Dover. 
Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross.     Hayward's  Heath. 

— Gilg,  "Die  Renaissance  des  Klosterwesens  in  der  anglikanis- 
chen  Kirche."  im  Internationale  Kirchliche  Zeitschrift.  3 
Jahrgang,  1913,  pp.  371-2. 

Cf.    Official  Year  Book  of  the  Church  of  England,  1916. 


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Spurrell,  James.  Miss  Sellon  and  the  Sisters  of  Mercy.  An 
Exposure  of  the  Constitution,  Rules,  Religious  Views 
and  Practical  Working  of  Their  Society,  obtained 
through  a  Sister  who  has  recently  seceded.  London, 
1852. 

Spurrell,  James.  A  Rejoinder  to  the  Reply  of  the  Superior 
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Stevenson,  Rev.  W.  F.  Praying  and  Working.  New  York, 
1863. 

Stewart,  Agnes  M.  Chastity;  or,  the  Sisters  of  Charity. 
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Stewart,  Agnes  M.  The  World  and  the  Cloister.  To  which 
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Trench,  Maria.  ''English  Sisterhoods."  (The  Nineteenth 
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[Anon.]  Women  and  Their  Work.  (Reprinted  from  The 
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Wister,  Sarah  B.  "Sisterhoods  in  England."  (Lippincotfs 
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Wordsworth,  Christopher.  Miscellanies,  Literary  and  Relig- 
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VI.     Biographies 

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Benson.     2  vols.     London,  1899. 
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Monk  of  Llanthony.     London,  1904. 
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London,  1911. 
Carter,  Rev.  T.  T.     Life  of  Harriet  Monscll.     London,  1884. 
Carter,  Rev.  T.  T.     A  Memoir  of  John  Armstrong .     Oxford, 

1857. 
[Carter,  Thomas  T.   ed.]     Nicholas  Ferrar:  His  Household 

and  His  Friends.     London,  1892. 
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Faber,  Frederick  Wm.     The  Spirit  of  Father  Faber,  Apostle 

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(Cambridge  in  the  \7th  cent.  pt.  1.)     Cambridge,  1855. 
[Ferrar,  Nicholas.]      The  Story-books  of  Little  Gidding;  being 

the  religious  dialogues  recited  in  the  Great  Room  1631-2 ; 

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228  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Guiney,   Louise  Imogen.     Hurrell  Fronde.     Memoranda  and 

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Towle,  Eleanor  A.  John  Mason  Neale.  A  Memoir.  Lon- 
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Trench,  Maria.     Charles  Lozvder:  a  biography.    London,  1885. 

Trench,  Maria.  The  Story  of  Dr.  Piisey's  Life.  London, 
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Ward,  Wilfrid.  Life  of  John  Henry  Nezvman,  based  on  pri- 
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Wilber force,  Reginald  G.  The  Life  of  Samuel  Wilber force. 
3  vols.     London,  1879-81-82-88. 


VITA 

Ralph  Washington  Sockman  was  born  October  i,  1889, 
in  Mt.  Vernon,  Ohio.  After  graduating  from  the  Fred- 
ericktown  (Ohio)  High  School  in  1906,  he  taught  one  year 
in  the  pubhc  schools  of  Knox  County,  Ohio.  He  entered 
Ohio  Wesleyan  University  in  1907,  receiving  the  degree 
of  B.A.  in  191 1.  From  191 1  to  1913  he  was  secretary 
of  the  Intercollegiate  Y.  M.  C.  A,  in  New  York  City  and 
also  a  student  in  the  School  of  Political  Science  at  Colum- 
bia University,  in  which  department  he  received  the  Master 
of  Arts  degree  in  1913.  He  graduated  from  Union  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  New  York,  N.  Y.,  in  1916  after  com- 
pleting three  years  of  study,  during  which  he  was  a  can- 
didate for  the  doctorate  of  philosophy  at  Columbia  Uni- 
versity. In  February,  191 7,  he  was  called  to  the  pastorate 
of  the  Madison  Avenue  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  New 
York  City,  which  position  he  now  holds. 


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